Turning Resolutions Into Reality

Posted by Greg Bustin (January 1, 2005)

Starting a New Year is like crossing a state line: If the sign was not there, would we notice?

But the sign is there, so we take note and make New Year’s resolutions. Guess what? If certain steps are not taken during any goal-setting process, chances are great the objectives will not be achieved. In fact, the Journal of Clinical Psychology estimates that 36% of the people who make New Year’s resolutions break them or abandon them by January 31.

Whether we call the process making resolutions, goal-setting, business planning, time management, list-making or something else, leaders who follow seven proven rules achieve more of what they’re after.

It all starts with setting clear objectives - whether at the outset of an engagement, an internal project or a New Year. Clarity helps reconcile priorities, time constraints and budgets, and establishes a specific vision of success. Clarity is one of the critical components of success. After all, if we can’t define success precisely, we can never achieve it.

A return to growth?

More than ever, leaders are intent on getting things done and driving bottom-line results.

There’s also a renewed emphasis on growth after four years of leaders slashing, cutting and holding their breath by trying to get more done with fewer resources. The trick will soon become how to identify and confirm legitimate growth opportunities and separate these from the pretenders. Smart leaders prioritize those opportunities that appear most viable and profitable and then develop and implement smart strategies to pursue them. Objectives will only be accomplished when there is execution against strategies that leverage competitive advantage. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Tactics without strategy is stupidity.

One key, of course, is striking a balance between “ready, aim, aim, aim” and firing shot after shot in the dark where there’s no clear target and little chance of scoring a hit.

Remember the perspective on execution from General George Patton? He said, “A good solution applied with vigor is better than a perfect solution applied 10 minutes later.”

Seven steps to success

So where’s the balance between planning and execution? Applying these seven proven steps can help bring you success in 2005 and beyond:

Set clear, measurable objectives. Remember Covey’s cardinal rule to “Begin with the end in mind.”
Develop a written plan. Saying it isn’t enough. Writing a plan requires discipline and increases the odds of success.
Commit to improvement. Ferry Porsche believes “Change is easy, but improvement is far more difficult.” The choice is yours.
Make each day count. Holiday Inn founder Kemmon Wilson says, “You cannot procrastinate - in two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.”
Hold yourself accountable. An ad from Mellon notes that “At the beginning of the day, it’s all about possibilities. At the end of the day, it’s all about results.” Review your progress regularly.
Never give up. Recalibrate your objectives if you must, but don’t quit.
Celebrate victories. In tough times, celebrations are more important than ever.

John Dealey tells of Andrew Carnegie’s desire in the early 1900s to harness the benefits of time management. Carnegie retained a consultant to develop an easy-to-use system that would deliver a huge impact. The system consisted of three deceptively simple components:

At the start of each day, make a list of tasks to complete.
Mark six items considered most important at that time.
Work on the single item, or part of that item, that is the most important at that moment until it is completed or something else becomes more important.

The consultant’s report to Carnegie noted that “this method will not assure that someone accomplishes their six items, but there currently is no system known to mankind whereby someone can accomplish more of their highly significant tasks.”

Sound easy? Try it.

Who am I?

Unlock the anonymous riddle - and your success - using the keys provided thus far:

“I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

“I am easily managed - you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people; and, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

“I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human being. You may run me for profit or turn me for ruin - it makes no difference to me.

“Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

“Who am I? I am habit.”

Or as Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

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