This Time, Things Will Be Different
Happy New Year to all my fellow riskologists around the world! I hope 2012 brings you many adventures and opportunities.
Speaking of the New Year, right now is the most popular time for all of us around the world to stand up and say to ourselves, “This time, things will be different.”
If something didn’t go the way you wanted it to last year, then the slate’s been wiped clean and you can try again. Free do-over!
The new year is exciting. Nothing’s actually changed, but it feels like you have a whole new chance to start over. And the truth is that you do. The problem is that the most common change is one of resolutions instead of actions.
Resolutions are nice, but perhaps we should set “actolutions” instead.
Of course, we all know the promises we make ourselves at this time of year are only as good as the actions we take. If you’ve made a list of goals and resolutions for yourself this year, then it’s probably a good idea to ask yourself, “How, exactly, am I going to actually do these things?”
Having a roadmap for the course you want to set is a great tool for achieving it, but more important than a roadmap, I think, are your motivations for it.
Why do you have the goals you have? What are the driving factors behind them? Why do you want to change what you do?
In so many situations, “Why?” is the most important question you can ask, so don’t get to far ahead of yourself—answer this question first.
Are the goals you’re setting really yours? What’s influencing them?
It’s good to be very honest with yourself about this even if the answers aren’t exactly what you’d like to hear. If your desires don’t come from deep within yourself, finding the motivation to carry them out can be pretty difficult. And without motivation, meaningful action becomes just as elusive.
This year, if you plan to change something in your life, make sure it’s really your life that’s motivating the change.
Whenever I do this myself, I usually find that some outside influences have worked their way into my goals. And when I look at the things I’ve wanted to do and failed at, this problem appears over and over.
The environment you’re in shapes you, sometimes quite dramatically and usually more than you realize. This year, take a risk and let your dreams actually be yours. Forget about your friends, co-workers, or anyone else that wants you to join them in some challenge you don’t care about and will give up on before anything changes.
Take a risk and follow your own lead. People will be confused. They’ll ask why. You’ll explain and they won’t understand. But you’ll understand. And that’s what’ll keep you going when it gets difficult.
And, with some hard work, that’s how you’ll do something meaningful for yourself.
Good luck in 2012. Of course, if you follow your own lead this year, you probably won’t need it.
Now over to you: How do you keep the motivation flowing on your own big plans?
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Postscript: The Bootstrapper Guild is opening again to another small group on Wednesday. If you’d like to join, you need to be on the waiting list.
The list keeps growing even though I rarely promote it, so please only join if you’re serious about launching and growing your micro-business this year.
Image by: vpickering