Well here we are....a few days in the new year.  Many are excited and have made New Year's resolutions that are quite exciting and ambitious.  So why do most fail?  A resolution is no more than an emotional goal, so if there is no plan for the resolution, you will merely have a resolution doomed for failure.

1) Write it down.  That is the obvious first step, but that wont get you very far.

2) Develop a planon how you will get to the resolution.  This is not a 5 minute task.  This typically can take a whole weekend of determining what may or may not work....how much will it costs...what happens if obstacles jump in the way.  This is a pretty big step.

3) Break the resolutiondown to small steps.  It is easy to say that one will lose 50 pounds, but after a few weeks, you start to think about it.....and say crap, that's nuts!  There is no way I am going to lose 50 pounds....let's drop it to 20.  Then it goes down to 10....then the year ends and you are up 25.  Thus, break it down to the ridiculous.  I am going to lose 1 pound a week, except for my two week vacation.  If I blow losing a measly one pound the next week I will have to lose 2.

4) Tell everyoneyou know your resolution.  I mean everyone you see...you know....friends, relatives....people you hate...people you love.  Why do people not do this?  Because they are scared people will make fun of them if they fail.  Well, they may be right; so, that is the purpose of telling everyone.  You need a zillion people saying hey how's your plan going? (replace sales with pounds or whatever you want).  Post it on Facebook....on Active Rain.  I dare you.  Post that you will sell "x" amount of homes.  I will send out a post later on that $60mm in closed transaction will occur in 2009 and that the top 10 list for Keller Williams will have our name on it. 

5) Don't expect second best.  Shoot for the stars....shoot for number one....at least once in your life for something.  When my daughter was 9 years old, she came into my office and saw a plaque on the wall that said I was number 2 with my the company I was with (of 37).  I was pretty proud and showed it to her. She looked at me with a puzzled look and asked me "why do you want to tell everyone that you are a loser".  Perhaps she was too young to understand I thought....then I thought, no, she is the perfect age to understand.  She left.  I moped around for a bit and took the plaque and took my 5 pound hammer and smashed the plack to pieces.  She was right.

6) Whatever calendar program you have post #3 to it.  Put your small steps as action items on a particular day at a particular time.  Outlook is great as one can put recurrences for events.  Such as from 9-11 I am working on my database, as I have to add 350 people to my database this year.  350....Yikes...no way.....impossible.  From 9-11 each day I have to figure out one person to add.  The rest of the time is organization and planning for the next touch with my database.  That is everyday folks.  Call me at 10 for a showing and it ain't gonna happen.

7) Set evaluations every quarter to see how on track you are.  Odd are if you are doing the above you will be far ahead of the game and will tend to slow down or stop the remainder of the year.  Thus, if you are ahead, increase your goals and make the necessary small changes.

8) Have a plan for obstacles.  This will happen.  Bad things will happen this year that will get you your path. There will be times where you will be put off track for a few weeks.  Are you going to make up the lost time or let it go?  That is up to you on how bad you want it.

9) Make your resolution/goal a habit.By doing the above for 3 months, you will be in a habit mode.  You are posting every week are you not.  Why?  Are you addicted?  Probably.  THe same should be with your resolution or goals.

10) Reward yourself.Either OR at the end of the year or before, when you reach your resolution, reward yourself in an absurd way.  This past year, my reward was a trip to Paris.  The year before was my 500sl car.  Crazy rewards....Yes, but so were the goals.