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Image: jupiterimages.comI have decided that we will not take up a challenge for this month.
I can see you breathing a sigh of relief already. But hey, don’t be too laid back, as there is something interesting that we will do this month. Instead of a challenge, we will have an experiment.
It’s going to be an unusual experiment, something that I have not tried earlier, and probably no one ever has. (Well, now-a-days it is difficult to find something that has not already been said or done, so I am just hoping that this one is really original)
For those of you who are new, the Challenges & Experiments Series is a practical discipline through which we challenge ourselves into making incremental changes in our way of living life, with the purpose of attracting more and more success into our lives. Check out the details of the Challenges & Experiments Series here.
It’s December already, and we are nearing the end of yet another year of our lives. Soon it will be time for New Year’s resolutions. Most people scramble at the last minute to get their resolutions listed. Many even start the New Year without any resolutions in place, and then, since it is too late already, decide that they will do that in advance… the next year.
You would have had enough experience already, or at least heard many people saying that New Year’s Resolutions do not work. I personally believe that it is not that the resolutions do not work, but rather that it is we who do not work on our resolutions.
The reasons, as to why people think that New Year’s Resolutions are so elusive, are many! We will visit some of those reasons in an upcoming post, but, for now, the purpose of this post is to announce the start of an experiment that may just help all of us to do better with our resolutions for the upcoming year.
So what is the experiment?
Let’s call it, “Resolving the New Year’s Resolutions”.
Just for the next twenty one days, each day, we will focus on our dreams and priorities, and prepare ourselves with the resolutions for the New Year so as to start the year with a bang!
As we always do with our monthly challenges, we’ll have a look at the Logical Goal for this experiment too. Here is one way of writing the logical goal for this experiment:
Triggers:
1) Another year is just around the corner, and it will soon be time for New Year’s Resolutions.
2) Many people fail to satisfy their New Year’s Resolutions. There is a need to look into the specifics behind the resolutions, and throw some light on the problem areas.
3) I need to make the best of the New Year and have my resolutions ready on time.
4) Lack of preparation behind the resolutions could be a major factor for the failure, and therefore there is a need to give it enough thought and prepare well for the upcoming year.
Target (The Experiment):
Over the period of 21 days, I will do the following:
* Visit my dreams and aspirations for the upcoming year
* List down the things that are important, big as well as small
* Review, revise, and re-review my list until I am convinced, and,
* Finally, RESOLVE to fulfill them in a realistic manner over the period of a new set of 12 months.
I will thus have my resolutions for the New Year ready by the 25th of December, incidentally Christmas Day.
Foreseen Risks and Planned Measures:
| # | Risk | Action/Response |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Its Christmas season, and it might get too busy with shopping taking all your available time. | 15 minutes is not too long a duration to take out of your daily routine. These 15 minutes for 21 days will ensure that you make the best of the next 365 days, and probably years going forward. So let not any excuse turn you away from this opportunity. |
| 2 | Lack of faith in New Year Resolutions, or just plain old hate. | This is one of the main reasons why we will perform this experiment. It will help us identify the problems with us in making good use of New Year’s Resolutions and taking advantage of this precious tool in shaping our lives. Have faith for 21 days, and good things will show up. You’ll begin to love this. |
| 3 | Not having the drive to go on with the challenge. | Have a look at the vision statement below, and see what you would be missing if you do not complete the challenge. If there is something that I can help with, let me know. |
Conditions:
1) You must not think that 21 days is a long time for this experiment, and that you can do it in one day. If you do so, you will not be doing anything different that the problem of scrambling for your New Year’s Resolutions on New Year’s Day.
2) You must start right away on day one of this experiment and come up with your first draft of your New Year’s Resolutions list. (We will refine it over the next 21 days and make it a list that you look forward to achieving over the next year.)
Timeline:
Daily, from December 5, 2010 to December 25, 2010.
Vision:
(There’s a reason why this is written in the present tense. I’ll talk about that in another post)
1. It’s December 25, 2010. It’s Christmas Day! And, boy! I already have my New Year’s Resolutions ready. I feel proud (and grateful) that I have well-thought-out resolutions this time, and that I am well-equipped to take the opportunities of a new year head-on!
2. Unlike my earlier years, I am not frantically trying to come up with the list of my resolutions at the last minute, on New Year’s Eve or after the year has already begun.
3. Towards the end of the new year: I am glad that I participated in the “Resolving the New Year’s Resolutions” experiment last December. It helped me keep my focus steady on my resolutions. This is one of the rare years, if not the first, when I have actually been able to satisfy my New Year’s Resolutions. It’s time for yet another new year, and, this year too, I will repeat the process of “Resolving my New Year’s Resolutions” just like last year.
That’s the Logical Goal for this experiment. The experiment starts tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to the outcome. How about you?
I’ll be posting comments on this post, and shall publish a number of related posts too, to update you all on my progress on this challenge, and help you in coming up with your new year’s resolutions too.
I would be most glad to see a large number of you join in on this experiment and contribute by posting your comments too.
Let’s have fun as we start preparing for a very promising new year that is awaiting us. Let’s “resolve” to Succeed!
OK Mark, I’m signing up for the challenge. I haven’t made any New Year resolutions for about 10 years now, so it will be interesting to start again.
John
John,
10 years is a long time. But let me guess… even without New Year’s resolutions, you have seen a ton of success coming your way, right?
I’m sure you will be a great subject for the experiment. LOL!
Just kidding!
Thanks for joining the experiment. I will be posting more on this in a day or two, and look forward to working with you on this experiment.
Cheers,
Mark
I already have a few basic ideas for new years resolutions, particularly in regards to business.
What would I need personal resolutions for since I am perfect!
J/K
Anyhow I am going to keep this comment on the shorter side. I have had my last 4-5 go directly into spam bins. Curious to see if this one does a disappearing act too. I think Askimet is punishing me for switching to GASP.
It gets frustrating to comment and not know if it will show or not.
Alright, Steve! I’m glad to be receiving comments from you again. Fished out two from spam today, thanks to your heads-up. Now you know your comments on this site are safe, so keep commenting. Well, for that I need to write some posts first.
I am enjoying this journey a lot, and I think it only be a matter of time before I start publishing more regularly on this blog. In fact, that is one of my resolutions for the coming year. I just have to see how I can work it out into a practical and logical goal. More on this as we unfold and go through the details in this experiment.
I’ll see you around!
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark, i found you through John McNally’s blog and thought i’d pop over.
I haven’t made a new years resolution for some time now but this time could be different. I’m wheelchair bound, over weight and a smoker. I sit at my PC most days working and haven’t been excercising for some time due to health issues (and at times being lazy).
I want to give up smoking but fear of putting on more weight deters me from trying. Now that my health has improved i’ll be aiming to go the gym at least twice a week to help burn some of the weight off and this may assist in my stopping smoking, along with good old will power.
I think many people give up on their new years resolutions as they try to bite off to much, ie stop smoking, drinking, lose weight etc etc and they don’t put steps in to help them achieve their aim.
I’ll be back for more of this Mark.
Barry
PS Stumbled and tweeted post, hope it helps
Hi Barry,
Welcome to Secrets of Success!
Thanks for showing interest in this month’s experiment, and also for mentioning upfront your immediate self-improvement priorities.
So I see that you have three main aspirations for the upcoming year:
1) Give up smoking (Or maybe cut the frequency by half?)
2) Lose weight (you are lazy, and you haven’t been exercising lately. By the way, I’m praying that you’ll be getting rid of your wheelchair very soon)
3) Have more fun (since you mentioned you at your PC for most of the days (or did you mean, most of your time?)
All of these were on the list of top 10 resolutions for 2010, and I think many fail at them every year. Let’s see how best we can strive to satisfy them through what comes out of this blog (which only time will tell).
I think you are right in saying that many people give up on their new year’s resolutions because they attempt to do too much, all without any base work and with no plan. And most of those aspirations come from the last-minute hype on New Year’s Eve and a few days around it. That’s exactly why I thought we’ll start early this year and give much thought to what our priorities truly are and how we can best plan them beforehand and begin the new year with a bang!
This experiment is for myself too, as much as it is for all friends and members of the Secrets of Success community. Let’s make the best of it.
Thanks so much for the stumble and tweet. It sure does help, and I’ll be sure to pay back tomorrow
Cheers,
Mark
Hey Mark,
Thanks for kicking my ass in gear, I’ll be thinking about my 2011 goals over the next 21 days, if it wasnt fore reading this post I probably would have left my goal setting to new years eve.
bLAZE yOUR tRAIL
Hey Ryan,
Welcome to Secrets of Success.
Today seems to be a nice and lucky day. I got to meet two new friends of Secrets of Success, and I look forward to a long lasting relationship.
Well, it’s my pleasure to be kicking everyone’s ass to get going with their New Year’s resolutions. Guess what? I’ve got a selfish motive in this experiment, as it is as much for myself too, as it is for everyone else. The first thing I did was kick my own ass (real hard!)
I guess (just a big wild guess) that we would probably be amongst the top 0.01% of the world’s population if we finalize our resolutions by Christmas
Jumping off to bed now, so I’ll check your blog tomorrow morning (and Barry’s too). Now you can try to guess which part of the world I am in
By the way, I liked the way you sign your name. It’s eye catching!
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark
See you have been busy here. Thought I would come and see what you are up to now that your last challenge is over.
I have started writing down my goals for 2011, so this post is on topic for me
Have started on a couple and planning some others. Am pleased I know one is happening as I wanted to be part of a blogging group that would help me move forward now that I am selling my sourced products.
I have been accepted as part of a group that will do just that. Looking forward to interacting with the other members of the group and learning heaps.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi mark of success:
There is your new post and I did not even know. Mark you are a smart guy, you have good decision insight. Christmas being so close and now new years, around the corner it is a good idea not to keep any challenge for this month.
Post is awesome as usual. I like your targets and triggers. My targets and trigger are always going on insight me, I do not write them and now because of compute, paper is getting out of sight.
I like your trigger and targets.
Keep up the good work and move in the direction where you want to go.
Fran A
[...] post is part of the experiment that we are conducting this month, to properly plan and set our new year’s resolutions for the upcoming year, well in [...]