I promise I’ll get back to our regular scheduled posts starting next week. I’ve been enjoying my time with family the last two weeks, and honestly, don’t want anything to take away from this current experience. We’re having a blast!

I do however, want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Not only is this the beginning of a new year, but a new decade to boot!

That being said, it’s the time of year when just about everybody makes New Years Resolutions.

Problem? Most couldn’t tell you what resolutions they made last year at this time, let alone change anything in their life during the last year.

Those who fail to plan – plan to fail.

Think about it. You don’t take a trek across the country without a road map do you? You don’t build a house without a set of blueprints, right? Heck, as much as it pains me to say this – being a guy and all – my son and I broke out the directions for the gigantic Lego set he got for Christmas.

We couldn’t have created this massive police and fire station without it.

So why don’t most people follow a plan in life? Most I suspect, simply don’t know how. It’s not something that’s really taught in school or by most peers.

Good friend, President and COO of YTB Marketing, Andy Cauthen, has been helping those of us who plug into his GoodDay@ytb.com column with some great tips and ideas on planning and goal setting. It shouldn’t surprise you that each of our Founders and Corporate Executives consider themselves in part “students” and they’re always looking for ways to improve and expand personally and professionally.

The beauty of it is – like everything else in our company, we share what we find in hopes that it can inspire and benefit others. (Another one of those traits found in MLM that Traditional Business should expand on.)

So here it is…76 tips on goal setting. Not only the WHY – but the HOW in turning your goals into something measurable and tangible.

The reason I like this short piece so much? It’s a real time saver. What Andy has done is take the best of the best from the literally thousands of books, programs and seminars out there dedicated to goal setting and condensed it into one concise and instructive article. It’s one of his key attributes and why the company values him the way they do. (Well, that and an outrageous sense of humor.)

So what do you say? Are you going to create a plan for 2010 – or are you just going to keep driving because you’re to proud to ask for directions? (By the way – guilty as charged when it comes asking for directions.)

But when it comes to a plan in life…since I found most of these tips years ago, I expand on my list and my plan each and every year.

I can tell you from personal experience…when done right, it truly works.

Happy New Year!

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And yes, there is a very good reason why I picked “Big Ben” to welcome in the New Year. ;-P

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I’ve done considerable study and research, learning and personal development over the last few years. It’s one of the reasons why I have the type of attitude I do and why my belief in not only myself, but YTB is so strong. I’m a completely different person today than when I first joined YTB some three years ago. Many of us want to change, and New Years resolutions are always a good start to forming new habits and projects.

First, most don’t even take the time to write down these resolutions to begin with. We’re too lazy to even take the time to put it down on paper, but somehow fully expect to keep them? (Rrrrrrright.) I not only had mine written down, but just replaced it on my bathroom mirror this morning. I saw mine every single day. While I didn’t read it aloud every day, I did at least look at it and it triggered the reminder of what my goals and aspiration were for 2007.

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The tradition of taking a resolution at New Year and fulfill it in the coming year, dates back to the early Babylonians.

The Babylonians believed that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will affect him or her throughout the year. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. New Year’s Resolutions offer the first of many important tools for remaking ourselves.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
~ Edith Lovejoy Piercre

In December or early January, almost everyone is minted up by the desire to plan a wonderful New Year! We plan vacations, and we imagine that any goal can be achieved. We eagerly make New Year’s Resolutions and set our biggest goals ever! It’s a perfect time to reflect on the changes we want to or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Resolutions if carried out successfully not only act as short-term goals to success but also help in improving life and overcoming those habits, which we ourselves do not like.

The unfortunate reality, of course, is that for most people the year goes by with little or no change. We do our jobs and live our lives, but our dreams don’t come true. Some things do change, but life doesn’t seem all that different. Not really. Not like we hoped.

The New Year is a good time to make resolutions but what is the point of resolutions if we can’t keep them? Do you also want to have a resolution for the year 2007?

Tips for New Year Resolution

1. Go Public: Those who say one thing and do another are labeled unreliable, hypocritical and even inconsistent. Tell everyone at home, work, gym, church, etc about your goal. The fear of being ill labeled or looked at as inconsistent by those who think highly of you will psychologically pressure you to follow through. Daily tell 3 different people about your goal.
2. Don’t Wait: Never wait for the right time, the right motivation, or the right intuition. For they will only come AFTER you have taken the initial step. Whether you are motivated or not, take one action daily towards attaining the goal you wish to put off. Then motivation will follow.
3. Make Your Resolution “Quit-Proof”: The more you invest into something, the harder it’s to give up on it. Invest more time, more energy, and if necessary, more capital towards the realization of that which you are pursuing. The less you have to lose, the easier it’s to quit. Invest daily towards the attainment of your goal.
4. Locate the Opportunities: Though you cannot see them, opportunities are all around you. It’s only when you are ready for them that they will be ready for you. Remember, when the musician is ready, the tune will appear. So get ready.
5. Get Ready: True readiness comes from acting on that which you are not ready for. As Aristotle once said, “The things you have to learn before you can do them, you learn by doing them.” Plunge into it, and then you’ll be ready.
6. Develop Momentum: One small action can build the excitement and the urge to continue or even finish what before you didn’t feel like doing. That’s how momentum is created. Just take one small step even if you don’t feel like it and momentum will eventually emerge.
7. Start Every Day With the Next Step: Every morning, ask yourself, “What action would I take towards accomplishing my goal if success was guaranteed?” Then take that very action in spite of any reluctance.
8. Overcome Reluctance: Keep in mind that easy things when done with reluctance become difficult, and difficult things when done with cynicism become impossible. Move beyond reluctance with the right anticipation.
9. Anticipate Success: This is probably the simplest, but most overlooked item of the list. Pure and simple “belief” that you CAN do this! I love what Earl Nightingale says: “You become what you think about most of the time.”

Here’s to making this years Resolutions stick!

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