Did you make a New Year’s resolution? Have you set your sights on important changes in 2010? My neighbor told me, “I don’t make resolutions.”
I asked him, “Why not?”
“Because they never work.”
Did you catch it? This man is at risk of making a crucial error in judgment and it may cost him dearly in the year ahead. The error isn’t that he didn’t create a New Year’s resolution; his error is that he doesn’t believe he can change.
Immeasurable human potential will be lost in 2010 because too many people won’t even try to change. How will you ensure that 2010 is not a repeat of 2009 for you? Beware of these three obstacles, and when you encounter them blow through them.
- The “Mis-Identification” Obstacle: Too many people identify themselves with the results they create. This ensures future paralysis as you eventually will deliver sub-par performance, meaning YOU are sub-par. (Really? – Not.) Dissolve this obstacle by positioning all outcomes as fodder for the hungry person you are.
- The “I Don’t Really Care” Obstacle: This is a silly game we all play with ourselves. When you try something new and don’t succeed your defense is to fool yourself into believing you don’t care. Dissolve this obstacle by memorizing this question – and answering it frequently: Why do I care?
- The “Query Quandary” Obstacle: It’s a fact that questions trigger the mind. Yet, when most people trip while attempting to achieve, they ask the wrong question: “What am I doing wrong?” This puts them in a quandary: by answering this question they become experts at failure. (And thus, fail more.) Dissolve this obstacle by asking forward focus questions such as, “What will I do better next time?”
Don’t kill the messenger: A new year is here. Change efforts – be it resolutions or otherwise – do work if the change technology you’re using is effective.
Here’s to blowing through obstacles in the months ahead.
