Author’s Note: So this was supposed to be a bonus edition. It seems fitting that life interfered with my intention to help those struggling to accomplish their New Year’s Resolutions with this extra February post which ended up later than planned. As advised below, I simply continued and accomplished the task. The result is now my regularly planned end of February post is behind. That will be up soon as well, but not until March.

It is the end of February. How’s your New Year’s Resolution going? Many people start the new year with wildly big goals for changing their lives. After a few weeks, the excitement for the change wanes, and they return to their old habits and ways. To successfully implement lasting change, people need three things to help. They need to understand how to change habits. They need written goals. Finally, they need a strategy for their life. Goals support the strategy and help change habits. Habits that support the goals need to be developed and implemented through consistent, disciplined action. Excitement over the potential for a new life wanes because change requires lots of work. When you have a strategy, you understand how your New Year’s Resolution supports that strategy so even on those days when there is little excitement, you can still muster the discipline required to follow through on your action steps and accomplish your goal.

Often people think strategy is only for nations or large businesses. Strategy is important for those organizations, and it is also important for individuals. In his book First Things First, Stephen R. Covey talks about the importance of having a vision for your life that transcends your entire life. He encourages readers to look beyond the Friday night ball game. What to you want people to remember about you on your deathbed? What do you want them to say about you at your funeral? Thinking about what the end of your life will look like helps your focus on the things you need to do today to achieve that vision!

I recently completed a new strategic plan for the organization I lead. I engaged a number of stakeholders over the course of nine months. We talked about our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, and desired results. We clarified our guiding principles, often called values. I talked to lots of people and did lots of research and writing. In the end, we accepted a plan to run our organization for the next five years, only five years. Am I suggesting you spend almost a year figuring out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, and desired results and also clarifying your personal and family values? No, I am not suggesting that; I implore you to do these things if you really want to change your life.

The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, results model (SWOTAR) focuses your attention. You identify those areas that move you forward, and those that will cause failure if not addressed. Always play to your strengths and work only on improving your fatal flaws. When you start looking forward, remember you really have no idea what the future holds.

People who graduated from school in the 1980s did not know they were at the end of the Cold War and that in the next decade, the Berlin Wall, and Iron Curtain would fall. Many of the jobs that exist today were not even a thing in 1980. None of us really have any idea what January 1^st 2025 will look like let alone January 21^st 2060. However, with clear personal values, and a vision of your aspirations and desired results, you find your true north.

For example, as a result of going through this process, you discover you really want to find ways to house more people who do not have homes. Based on history, I suspect homelessness will still be a problem in 2060 because it has been a problem for centuries. However, homelessness has been a bigger and smaller problem over time for a variety of reasons. You may not know exactly what will work right now, but using your strengths and skills, you can identify things you can begin today to improve the homeless situation now and for 2060.

Now that you have your vision for your life, or your life in the next decade, you can pick goals to make your vision a reality. When you work in this way, your New Year’s Resolutions support your vision for your whole life. A lesson I frequently have to remember is that change takes time. You can only harvest apples from an orchard one time each year. It takes the tree a year of changes to create those apples. In many ways, people are the same. We need to grow to make change. As change begins to occur within and around us, we find those changes enable us to do more and different things. Your vision and values remain constant. Just because you failed to achieve your New Year’s goal does not mean it is unachievable; you may need more time to develop the education, skills, or acquire other resources. If that goal supports your life plan, you can find the motivation and discipline necessary to achieve it. You can always begin again.

So here we are at the end of February with a failed New Year’s Resolution. Instead of accepting failure, create a vision for your future. Identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, aspirations, desired results, and personal values during the rest of the year. Figure out what goals you need to accomplish to make your vision a reality. Setting and accomplishing goals is easier when you understand how they support your vision and when they are aligned with your values. I wrote a few posts on goal setting. You can find the links below. The rest is up to you. Create your vision. Set your goals. Achieve your New Year’s Resolution.

Look for the closing article in my series on developing personal trust in the next two weeks. I look forward to being back on schedule by the end of March.

References

• Covey, S, Merrill, A, & Merrill, R. (1995) First things first. Fireside. New York, NY
• Warren, R. (2002) The purpose driven life. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI
• Zenger, J, & Folkman, J. (2004) The handbook for leaders. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY

More on setting goals:

Accomplishing New Year’s Resolutions: https://christopherstcyr.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/time-to-reflect-plan-act/

Establishing Measurable Goals: https://saintcyrtraining.com/2021/12/

Creating a Personal Development Plan: https://saintcyrtraining.com/2018/01/24/road-map-for-your-life-creating-a-personal-development-plan/

Goal Setting Worksheet: https://www.slideshare.net/ChrisStCyr1/sample-goalsworksheet

(c) 2024 Christopher St. Cyr