major league new year
The New Year is fast approaching. It's that time of year where people begin to take stock of the year that they’ve had, gear up for the new year, and maybe even begin to formulate ideas for New Years resolutions.
You’ve probably heard people talking about resolutions that they’ve made in the past, and you may have even made some yourself. Do you ever wonder what the success rate is on actually following through on them though?
Well, the truth is a majority of New Year’s resolutions fail. A 2016 study by the Statistic Brain Research Institute found that by the end of the year only 9-12% of people felt they were successful in keeping their New Year's resolutions.
Why is that exactly? One of the main reasons they found is that people set unrealistic goals. The “resolutions” that many people choose are more like dreams and not attainable. Quite interestingly, researchers also found that SLEEP was a major factor in the success or failure of New Year's resolutions. (SLEEP: The top MLM Fundamental and the #1 performance enhancer!)
At Major League Mindset, developing a *process over outcome mentality* that allows you to repeatedly set and hit targets (goals) is a core concept. Today we’re only going to cover HOW to come up with these targets. While it’s important to have certain *outcomes/results* (not totally in your control) you’d like to achieve, having a *process* (action steps that are in your control) is the key to actually doing so.
Like anything else, target setting is a skill which takes practice to master. Once you get good at it though, you’ll find that you’re able to repeat the process and build a continual path towards success.
Below is a guide on *HOW* to go about setting targets that you will be able to ACHIEVE with regularity, and give you the confidence to keep going for more!
MAKE THEM MEASURABLE: Your goals need to be something you can measure. Let’s use an example of measurable goal vs an un-measurable goal.
Un-measurable goal: I want to become the best baseball player I can be
Measurable goal: I want to hit .350 with 8 home runs
See the difference? In the first example, it’s impossible to measure what the 'best baseball player' means. In the second example, there is a clear target that you’re aiming for. Having this clear target in mind makes the goal much more tangible.
At first, it can be difficult trying to figure out what is the right level of ambition to set your goals so that they’re both challenging but also achievable, but we’ll talk more about that below. In any case, it’s all about practice!
MAKE THEM TIME-LIMITED: Another reason many resolutions fail is that there is no time limit set to achieve them. Meaning, there is no sense of urgency and the goal is something that can always be done “later”. By setting a time limit, you force yourself to focus on completing the goal in the allotted time, and thus are more likely to be able to accomplish it. Let’s see the two examples again.
Not a time limited goal: I want to improve my batting average
Time limited goal: I want to improve my batting average by the end of this month (know that having a specific *process* on how you will do this is key)
MAKE THEM ACHIEVABLE: The last, and perhaps most important point is that you need to set goals that are achievable within the time limit that you’ve set for yourself. That means, you need to be realistic about what your goal actually is, that it’s something that you’ll actually be able to accomplish.
As I mentioned above, this is something that will take some time to get better at, as you’ll want to try and set goals that are both challenging but also realistic within a specific time frame. Let’s try to put it all together this time
Non-Achievable goal: I want to hit .800 with 30 home runs
Achievable goal: Same as above (I want to hit .350 with 8 home runs)
If you follow these three steps, you will be able to turn your resolutions into achievable goals. Better yet, you’ll be able to repeat the process over and over in a way that will help you achieve bigger goals over time.
The New Year is fast approaching! Commit to showing up everyday and putting the work in so that you can make 2023 the best year of your life, as you set and hit targets both big and small.
