So, how\u2019s your New Year\u2019s resolution coming along?\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t cringe at that question, you among the elite 8% of the American population.\u00a0 A 2013 college study found that 92% of people don\u2019t follow through on their resolutions.*\u00a0 These statistics should not be a surprise.\u00a0 Throwing everything you\u2019ve got at a new way of doing things once a year, and expecting results is a monumental task and hope.\u00a0 Instead, I believe our resolutions should be a weekly event and check-in.<\/p>\n
Our self-renewal must be a continual process; a work in progress. If we want to improve ourselves, it must be done in an ongoing, disciplined way, not in a \u2018throw-everything-you\u2019ve-got-at-it\u2019 once a year event.\u00a0 Consider the effort it takes to get an education, work through a project at your job, raise a family, or plan a trip.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a one-time event.\u00a0 True, it starts with one decision, but continues with ongoing commitment and work.\u00a0 So it is with ongoing renewal.\u00a0 It\u2019s for the long haul.<\/p>\n
Instead, I encourage you to reframe the way you think about your life.\u00a0 Reframing is a new way of looking at something with the goal of approaching it in a better way (see my thoughts on reframing conflict in Kay\u2019s Consulting Corner in my November newsletter).\u00a0 To reframe your life, I\u2019d like to suggest putting it in buckets such as family, health, professional life and development, friendships, spiritual, daily responsibilities, and recreation.\u00a0 This method is very similar to the Franklin Covey approach of organizing your priorities, with one additional step, which is formulating your personal mini mission statements.<\/p>\n
By creating mini mission statements, you move from an idealist approach of hope, to an action-oriented reality of what you are really willing to do.\u00a0 I would categorize most New Year\u2019s resolutions in the \u2018hopeful\u2019 category, often made without a lot of forethought and a plan to move forward.\u00a0 A well-written mini mission statement will naturally produce action-oriented goals and to-do lists for each of your buckets.\u00a0 The basic framework of your mini mission statement is this: \u201cI want to go from X to Y by Z.\u201d\u00a0 No, it\u2019s not an algebraic equation.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way to put a start, end and achievable measurement on your goal.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
Notice these mission statements are all in different buckets; work, health and family.\u00a0 They also have reasonable timeframes. Example 1 allows you 12 months to work on projects to reach your promotion goal.\u00a0 Example 2 focuses on losing just 3 pounds a month to reach your goal weight by the end of the year.\u00a0 And, example 3 can be as simple as carving out a weekly half hour of time to play a board game or go out for an ice cream.\u00a0 Small steps toward a larger mission.<\/p>\n
The thing I like most about the mini mission statement is that it sets realistic goals, and gets rid of the perfectionist problem.\u00a0 You know, the one that often plagues women who think they have to \u2018do it all\u2019, \u2018be it all\u2019 and \u2018give it all\u2019?\u00a0 Mini mission statements for each bucket takes perfectionism out of the equation, and brings your goals into focus.\u00a0 However; you must commit to reviewing them weekly.<\/p>\n
I like to take Sunday afternoons or evenings to reflect on the week, review each bucket and see what I\u2019ve done to fill up the mission.\u00a0 In 2015, carve out time for yourself each weekend for self-renewal.\u00a0 Begin this weekend with the following steps:<\/p>\n
The following weekend, review your buckets and goals. How did you do for the week?\u00a0 The most important part in this process is to refuse to indict yourself.\u00a0 Each week, there will be something moving you closer toward some goals, chances are it will be the momentum of success.\u00a0 There’s always more we ‘could’ do, but the focus needs to be on what we ‘have’ done.\u00a0 Celebrate that and move forward instead of beating yourself up.<\/p>\n
The key here is to be intentional, and really think about what you want out of life, rather than letting life toss you around with unnecessary obligations (finishing that Words with Friends game, or having all the laundry done), and sudden enticing opportunities (spur of the moment shopping outing) that can sidetrack us.\u00a0 I use some of the following tools to help with mini mission statements and tracking.\u00a0 Some have been recommended by colleagues:<\/p>\n
Wunderlist \u2013 Simple list of things to do – https:\/\/www.wunderlist.com\/<\/a> These helpful apps and tools will help organize your goals, and hopefully make it easier and a little fun as you make progress on each mini-mission.\u00a0 If you feel like you need ongoing help to reach your mission statements, and some coaching or accountability as you move toward your goals, give me a call to discuss professional coaching.\u00a0 I\u2019d love to help you meet your High-Heeled Success\u00ae and then some!<\/p>\n *Source: University of Scranton. Journal of Psychology study, January 1, 2014.<\/p>\n \u00a9Copyright 2015.\u00a0 Kay Fittes.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, how\u2019s your New Year\u2019s resolution coming along?\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t cringe at that question, you among the elite 8% of the American population.\u00a0 A 2013 college study found that 92% of people don\u2019t follow through on their resolutions.*\u00a0 These statistics should not be a surprise.\u00a0 Throwing everything you\u2019ve got at a new way of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[9,18,6,43],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qkhe-1E","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTrello \u2013 Aligns with the bucket strategy, mini goals and list with deadlines. Allows other people to work with your projects. https:\/\/trello.com\/<\/a>
\nIrunurun \u2013 Helps with goal writing and \u2018gamifies\u2019 goal tracking with scores for completion. http:\/\/www.irunurun.com\/<\/a>
\nGoogle Keep \u2013 Like Pinterest, but for your thoughts, links, lists and ideas. https:\/\/keep.google.com\/<\/a>
\nSmartSheet \u2013 Intuitive project timeline creator with dependent due dates. https:\/\/www.smartsheet.com\/<\/a>
\nInbox and Calendar labels \u2013 Use colored tabs and folders to organize your messages and appointments.\u00a0 Gmail and Google calendar have this feature, as do most other email and calendar apps.<\/p>\n