The Ultimate Guide to Bulletproof Your New Year's Resolution

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It’s 2018! A new year. A new beginning. So how do you make sure to kick butt this time around? You need apply only one rule to your most important resolution—give it 100%.

The best business advice my business (and life) mentor gave me was, “99% is hard, 100% is easy”. Too often we are 99 percenting it. We delay a CrossFit Level 1 or 2 certification because our schedules are too tight. We have an idea to start a supplement business or enter a fitness competition but don’t begin because “the timing isn’t right”.

What we really mean is we're just not at 100%. 

Here's how to apply the 100% rule to your life, stat.

1. Know What You Want

The first rule of getting what you want is knowing what you want. Priorities exist to give us clarity. They force us to contemplate the specifics of what it is that we want to be, do, or have. What do you most want to achieve this year? This is what will receive your 100%.

2. Make It Achievable, But Not Easy

In coaching we call the best goals “stretch goals”—possible but with some stretch. We always want to push forward. It’s how we grow and feel happy. Is your 100% goal a stretch enough? Be honest. Make sure it’s something that, when you’re working toward it, you feel tested, inspired, and proud.

3. Act

Part 3 is most important. Nothing, nothing, nothing changes without action.

Remember: All the best goals are deadline-driven. We need the why and the what, but also the when. If your goal is ongoing (for example, to take 10 minutes daily for meditation), then it’s simply a daily commitment. But give yourself no choice but to do it and you can tick it off your mental list every morning with satisfaction.

4. Make It Easy to Stay On Track

There are such great resources available to keep you focused. My favorite go-to’s include reading How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell, listening to the "Being Boss" podcast when I’m on the go, and using the Evernote app to stay organized and on top of my to-do list. 

The sole reason I published my first book this year was that I heard this advice. It was two years in the making and then published within two months. There were no more decisions to make over when to sit down and write. It was type or die.

The right mindset and tools support you to make success much easier. But you just have to decide to commit to it 100%.

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See the next page to find out how to bulletproof your goals.

The above chart is adopted from Life Incorporated. Re-create and expand it in your journal as you see fit.

Make Your Resolution Bulletproof

So how do you put that plan into action—and track your progress? Halley Bock, author of Life, Incorporated: A Practical Guide to Wholehearted Living, has a blueprint to help you succeed at whatever you commit to 100%. Her book has tons of actionable exercises to help you work out everything from what you should do for work, play, and self-development; who are you doing things for; how to make a daily plan; and how to positively utilize help from your community for your and others’ benefit. Here are Bock’s top tips to follow through on your resolutions.

Follow Your Passion

“First, figure out what you’re passionate about,” she says. What have you been most obsessed with over the years? Put your energy there.

See Roadblocks Ahead

To plot out an action plan, Bock explains, you need to consider obstacles you’ll encounter and what’s going to get in your way. “If you’ve tried to reach this goal before but weren’t successful, take time to pinpoint what got in the way. Was it self-sabotaging? Do you lack the necessary skills? Did you lose the passion?” By asking those questions when taking inventory for your plan you can anticipate or sidestep these obstacles.

Vision Board Bliss

Bock encourages you to maintain an area of your office with inspired images that mirror what you want. “But a vision without a plan is fantasy,” Bock warns—which is why the planner at right is key. Use her tips and worksheet to pull off your goals and change your life for the better.

1. Start with the big picture, beginning with a vision of yourself that’s as grand as you can imagine.
2. Break goals into annual increments with major milestones, then work backward from there into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and then daily goals.
3. Some life coaches and therapists advise that you publicize your goals so you’re accountable to someone. But don’t blast out your goals. “When you do that, you trick your brain into thinking you’ve already achieved it; your brain starts to sense that you’ve gotten what you want, and motivation starts to slip.” She adds: “Setting resolutions and life goals is an intimate process. If you give in to the tendency to tell everyone about them, you are dispersing energy rather than concentrating that energy on your goals. Tell only a few of your most trusted friends and family for accountability and support, rather than the whole world.”
4. Lastly, don’t be hard on yourself if and when things come up that set you back a few weeks. You can always rework monthly/quarterly goals.

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