Are you someone who makes New Year’s resolutions, or are you one who makes fun of those who make them?  Either way, are New Year’s resolutions worth it?

This Week’s Edition

GOAL SETTING: For leaders who desire to grow, is goal setting effective to achieving something big?

Clarify Your Thinking

Ninety percent of New Year’s resolutions fail – 25% by January 25th and 80% by mid-February. Why is this?

 When anyone proactively sets a New Year’s resolution or goal, it stands to reason that the person has a strong desire to actually make a change. So, why do we fail 90% of the time to achieve something we actually want?

 Part of the answer lies in our thinking. When we think that the goal is, “I want to lose ten pounds,” our thinking may be slightly off base.

While the “goal” describes the desired outcome, it is not a complete goal. It is merely a grand declaration which by itself is not actionable.

 For example, it makes no mention of what you are going to do to make the outcome happen. Change your thinking slightly – add the crucial what component to the goal. “I want to lose ten pounds BY exercising 30 minutes five times a week and logging my food intake.”

 This addition changes the way we think about the goal. It becomes actionable. It moves an earnest goal setter from wishful thinking to the start of a plan that yields a better than 10% shot at being realized.

 The business leader example:

Wishful thinking: “I want to grow revenue by 30%.”

Actionable goal-setting: “I want to grow revenue 30% by starting a new service line and increasing current utilization.”

Thoughts Lead to Actions

Changed thinking about goal-setting that includes what you are going to do improves your odds of success. Take one more step to almost ensure success: create the action plan, how you are going to accomplish it.

 Leaders who undertake the action plan phase of goal-setting sometimes falter due to a lack of:

·      An effective strategy

·      Subject matter expertise

·      Accountability

 The good news is that leaders can limit these derailers relatively easily.

 In the weight loss example identify how in the following way,

·      Effective strategy: Walk. Run. Bike. Boot camp.

·      Subject matter expertise: Hire a trainer. Ask someone who knows.

·      Accountability: Walk with someone. Use an app to log your activity.

 In the business example (grow revenue 30% by a new service line and increase utilization):

·      Effective strategy: Inventory current in-house skills of team members to determine possible adjacent offerings that be deployed as a pilot.

·      Subject matter expertise: Hire a consultant to train your leaders how to engage the team to increase their productivity.

·      Accountability: Determine what KPI’s (lagging and leading) will allow you to monitor your progress toward the desired outcome.

 Aligning your thinking with the actions you take over time, will create consistent elite performance results.  Resolve to be in the ten-percent success club in 2021 – a New Year’s resolution worth keeping beyond February.

What’s Your Opinion?

Share with me your best approach to keeping a New Year’s resolution. robin.pou@robinpou.com

Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

If this was helpful, feel free to share it with another leader who needs to defeat doubt and complete their confidence.

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What is “The Confident Leader”?

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.