New Year’s Resolutions in 2008: Stick with One

Making a list of all your New Year’s resolutions for 2008 right about now?

Are you vowing to eat better, quit smoking, spend more time with your kids, work smarter, stress less, use all your vacation days and become a better team player at the office?

Then let me level with you: You’re wasting your time.

Now before you accuse me of being a cynical spoilsport, I’ll ask you to think back to your resolutions from years past: How many of them did you actually keep for more than a couple of weeks? I’m guessing not many -- or any.

I know that you wanted to keep that pledge to hit the gym three days a week during lunchtime. If only you didn’t have that all-important report to finish for your boss before Martin Luther King Day, you never would have fallen off the wagon, right?

You certainly intended to become a more efficient, more productive worker in 2007. But then that pesky online social network called Twitter came along and you couldn’t help but become distracted a half-dozen times a day. That was it, wasn’t it? 

Why So Many New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work

The real problem with New Year’s resolutions -- including those for the workplace -- is that we make too many of them and don’t develop a plan of attack for realizing our goals.

My solution? Make one workplace resolution -- not five, 10 or 20 -- for 2008 and then work like heck to make sure you achieve it. Here’s how: 

• Know How You Got Here: If you have some quiet time between now and January 1, ask yourself why your single resolution has moved front and center in the first place. Are you desperately seeking a promotion? Are you bored on the job?  Do you have a toxic relationship with your boss? Getting to the motivations behind the burning issue will ensure you’re ready to make true change in the new year.
  
  
•  Write It Down: You’ll be more committed to your goal when you write it out on a piece of paper. Speak the words of your resolution, too, and then engrave them into your visual memory for the year to come.
  
  
• Stretch Yourself: While goals should be realistic, they’re not worth much if you can achieve them without breaking a sweat. Be prepared to work hard.
  
  
•  Identify Your Allies and Opponents: Whose cooperation or partnership will you need to achieve your resolution, and who might stand in your way? Come up with a plan for working with both groups as you stay focused on your cause.
  
  
•  Visualize the Finish Line: Reaching your resolution by year’s end will require a mix of self-confidence, competency and dogged determination to not to get knocked off course. See yourself standing in the winner’s circle on December 31, 2008, and then walk backward through the year, charting the critical steps you’ll need to take along the way.

So don’t burn your energy making too many workplace resolutions for next year. Stick with one, make it meaningful and challenging, and then think through your strategy and tactics for reaching your goal.

Good luck.

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

I’m still settling on my single resolution for 2008, but what about you?  What is your workplace goal for the coming year?

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