The start of 2022 brings about a familiar feeling - hope and dread—the hope of starting fresh and meeting new goals. And the fear of not living up to your New Year resolutions.
Life seems to get in the way of things. The unexpected and the emergencies all inevitably turn up to de-rail our best of intentions.
So let's reflect on how the best superstars, experts and entrepreneurs can teach us to set goals and keep them. We've studied over 160 successful people, and here are nine lessons that will help us keep exciting new year's resolutions in 2022.
If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.
Lesson 1
Peter Drucker, the Godfather of modern management, shared this wisdom on measurement for business leaders. It is equally powerful on an individual level too. Think about it: if you want to reduce weight, you weigh yourself every morning. If you're going to run faster, you track your time on each run.
Regardless of your new year's resolutions in 2022, make sure you measure them every day.
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We do not learn from experience. Instead, we learn from reflecting on experience.
Lesson 2
With some concrete goals set, make sure you reflect on why you haven't met goals in the past. Be open, honest and brutal with your reflections. The source of the accomplishments of David Goggins, the toughest man on the planet, is his reflection on his vulnerability and weakness.
My happiness is my reflection on the suffering during my journey and knowing that I never quit nor was I guided by anybody on this earth.
David Goggins
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Let your Journal capture your reflections and your intentions.
Lesson 3
A daily practice of writing your thoughts in a journal is cleansing and setting intentions. Use your Journal as an opportunity to clear your head, ask what you've learnt and what you're going to do next. Don't just focus on what's bothering you; celebrate that things are going well.
So many times, we dissect failure, but we don't dissect successes. Journaling helped me recalibrate.
Matthew McConaughey
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Surround yourself with people who make you better
Lesson 4
Don't keep company with the wrong people. Instead, surround yourself with people that will help and support you. Better still, tell them your goals, and they will make you accountable to them.
Surround yourself with people who push you to do and be better. No drama or negativity. Just higher goals and higher motivation. Good times and positive energy. No jealousy or hate. Simply bringing out the absolute best in each other.
Warren Buffett
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Live your life like there's a documentary crew following you
Lesson 5
Joe Rogan has excellent advice about self-accountability when nobody is watching you. He says, 'Live your life like there's a documentary crew following you. Make sure you keep your goals and values - even when nobody can see you.
When you visualize, then you materialize.
Lesson 6
If you want success outcomes, you must visualize them before they happen. David Goggins attributes a big part of his success to visualization.
"Self-talk and visualization are two keys to my success."
David Goggins.
The visualization will help you prepare for achieving goals. For example, you will condition your brain to achieve objectives before they happen. Take your New Year resolution and imagine how it looks, feels, sounds and smells, and you'll be one step closer.
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Success comes from hard work, not potential
Lesson 7
Embrace a growth mindset by seeing failure as an opportunity to grow. Set some stretch goals and put in the challenging and disciplined work, and you'll be amazed at what you can acheive.
"The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it's not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives."
Carol Dweck
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Design the triggers for your successful habits
Lesson 8
We dug deep into the work of Habit Guru James Clear. His profound work on habit design found The 5 Triggers That Make New Habits Stick:
Cue
Craving
Response
Reward
In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits.
James Clear
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Win the prize by using rewards to reinforce your habits.
Lesson 9
We all need a cheery on top. A habit reward can be just feeling good from the activity. Sometimes we need a little more, some time off to chill out or enjoy our favourite hobby. Either way, make sure every habit has a reward because this will keep you coming back for more,
This explains why habits are so powerful: They create neurological cravings. Most of the time, these cravings emerge so gradually that we're not really aware they exist, so we're often blind to their influence. But as we associate cues with certain rewards, a subconscious craving emerges in our brains that starts the habit loop spinning.
Charles Duhigg
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That's nine lessons that will help us keep exciting new year's resolutions in 2022. If you want to explore more of these ideas make sure that you the book or podcast episode links.
