New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep:
Assessing Your Progress
by Nan S. Russell
I'm not a big fan of New Years resolutions. Sure I've made dozens of them,
all with good intentions and a bit of magical thinking, believing this time the
resolution will stick. Maybe a few have, but generally these wishful
self-promises end up broken. And when that happens my self-esteem suffers.
You see, every time you break a self-promise, your self-trust is weakened.
Every time you give up on your commitments your self-confidence takes a hit. And
every time you look back on broken resolutions, your self-assessment hurts, not
helps, your performance future.
By contrast, I am a huge fan of goals or dreams or aspirations or targeted
focus. Call it what you like. Mine come in a variety of forms, anything from a
life-to-do-list to aspirational dreams. But their achievement hinges on the same
element - incremental action. I learned in twenty years of management the power
behind small steps.
One baby step, then another and another eventually leads to achievement. Most
of us are unlikely to hit home-run equivalents with our work or life goals. But
by incrementally nibbling at them, we can accomplish most anything, actualizing
life dreams and winning at working. Like the Chinese proverb reminds us, "The
man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
So, instead of New Years resolutions, I suggest you try an alternative this
year. First, assess your progress. Second, align your direction.
Start by writing down your accomplishments for the last twelve months, asking
yourself, what's different today from a year ago. These don't have to be big or
work-only achievements, but note incremental progress in any part of your life.
If I can do more sit-ups this year than last, that goes on my list. If I've read
thirty books, I put that down. If I have a better relationship with a client,
it's there.
Now, take a few minutes to savor your list, breathing in the powerful feeling
of personal progress. It's amazing how good it feels to see what you're
accomplished. Whenever I observe a tangible list of what I've achieved in just
twelve months, it fuels my energy for what I can do in the next twelve. And that
leads me to the second part of the experience: seeing where I'm headed. Like a
compass, the list helps me align my focus and build incremental goals in the
direction I want to be traveling.
You see, people who are winning at working leverage the power of incremental
progress to build their performance, reach their goals, actualize their dreams
and impact their results. In the process they build their self-esteem,
self-trust and self-confidence. They know accomplishment breeds accomplishment;
success produces success; and progress multiplies progress. Want to be winning
at working? Start fueling your progress with incremental action.
(c) 2005 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.
Nan Russell is a writer, columnist, small business owner and
online instructor. She is currently writing her first book, Winning at Working:
10 Lessons Shared. For more information or to subscribe to her eColumn, visit
Nan's web site at
http://www.nanrussell.com
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