It’s mid February now, probably 99% of New Year’s Resolutions have failed, and life is back to normal.
There are two basic properties of resolutions that doom them. First, they are too goal specific, which the point, to set a specific goal for this year. Second, they are too large, a dream, not a goal.
There are other problems with resolutions, but these two guarantee failure.
Why? Because you get ahead of yourself by defining the goal without putting any thought, or planning, into the specifics of how to get there.
I set a goal, several years ago, to become an internet entrepreneur. I had absolutely no clue how I was going to get there, what I needed to learn and do, or how much work it would take. I had visions of quitting my job as the money rolled in from the Tim Ferris four hour work week.
It is only five years later that I am beginning to see some success.
Again, why? Because the most important thing I learned was not to get ahead of myself. Before the money could begin to roll in I needed to learn to
- create content, at will
- write better, cleaner, tighter prose
- find the best focus time
- develop the habits of daily writing and publishing
- get to the point
- edit writing
- edit video
- write ad copy
- market myself
- and so much more
I never gave up on the idea of entrepreneurship, but if it had been a New Year’s Resolution, I might have. I failed that first year. And the next, and the next.
But I didn’t give up, because I learned to love the process.
And I stopped getting ahead of myself.
