Congratulations! You’re 4 Weeks in 2018

So, you’re 4 Weeks into 2018. How are those goals coming along?
 
Well, today starts the 5th week of 2018, meaning there are only 48 more weeks to make sure 2018 is better than 2017.  Now, the real question is how are things going so far?  Remember, statistically more than 80% of people who set New Year resolutions have already completely abandoned those “Goals” after merely 8% of the year completed.  It is a sad but true truth. 

To make matters worse, of the remaining 20’ish percent still in the game, most of them will have abdicated their “Goals” before the end of the first quarter.  And the most disappointing take-away from these numbers each year, is that less than 1% will follow-thru with their “Goals” by the end of the year.  These types of statistics are part of a bigger reason why I wrote my book “Success with Goals – Designing Your Life with Purpose”.  The intent was to give people a better opportunity to successfully set and achieve their goals in life. 

More specifically, I intended to help people understand that for most of us the traditional goal setting process doesn’t work and a more holistic process needs to be employed if you truly want to succeed in setting and achieving your life goals.  Putting the statistics aside, most people struggle with goal setting in general because they don’t use the entire process or what I call a formula.  It’s a far too complicated process for most people to do on their own.  You need someone to call you out on your own BS when you over extend yourself or sell yourself on something because you think you should.
 
For instance, many times people set goals that they think they should go after, rather than really deciding what they want.  This is one of the most basic components in an effective goal setting process.  If you are setting goals that don’t entirely resonate with you, you either won’t achieve them, or you won’t feel fulfilled if, and when, you do achieve them.  Either way this is a losing proposition. 
 
For that reason, I included a few Life Purpose exercises to ensure people’s goals are in alignment with their values and beliefs.  Not so that they don’t set unrealistic goals, we don’t believe in unrealistic goals, but they absolutely need to be YOUR goals.  Not your mother’s, father’s, children’s, grand-parent’s, wife’s, well, you get the idea.  By ensuring your goals are aligned with your life purpose and values, you dramatically increase the odds of you achieving these worthy goals.
 
Now, as you read the title above, you may have likely been thinking to yourself, well dang Eric, it’s just 4 weeks into 2018, give me a break already. 
 
Side note:  Since we typically refer to a month as 4 weeks, yet there are 52 weeks in a year, I like to refer to the extra 4 weeks of the year as your FREE Month.  Now there aren’t many things that are truly Free in life and we all know the value of Time, but I just showed you that there is a Free month in your year, the question is how are you using that valuable time?...
 
Ah, and therein lies yet another major issue with goal setting.  Which is that many, if not most, people set a goal and then don’t make their goals part of their daily routine.  Yes, if you have any hope of achieving a goal, whether it’s to start your own business, make a million dollars, travel to India and train with a master in meditation, or to learn a new language.  Each day you don’t review where you are and ultimately where you want to go with that goal, your chances dwindle daily to less than 1% after just a few short months, as referenced earlier.
 
However, with a strong strategy, a good plan, and the right process, what you can accomplish increases dramatically and your odds increase 10-fold!  So, let’s not leave your most important life goals to chance, let’s stack the odds in your favor and get you winning with your life goals!  Remember, no one else is going to care about your goals more than you are and no one is going to make them happen for you.  You must go out and seize each opportunity to get everything you want in life, AND everything you want in life is available if you are willing to work for it. 
 
Remember there are only 48 more weeks left, for all intents and purposes you have used up that Free month if you haven’t made any real progress yet, but you still have 12 months to make it happen, so don’t lose heart!
 
Remember, you make your own luck, get out there and go after your goals, like your life depends on it, because it does (I love that phrase – Thanks Les Brown)!
 
ETW