January is typically the time of good intentions, positive resolutions and massive goal setting; a tradition that is hard to give up for many people. We are counting now the 5th week of the month. Are you still on track with your goals, your resolutions, your intentions? Have you given up on them already? Again? Or didn’t you even set any goals this year after failing last year?
My work with physicians and my observations have shows that most of them just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they have been doing for the last years but they are still expecting different results (some call this insanity). And then there are a few others who want to do more or have more but they don’t take the time to put a strategy in place that guarantees them the success and the results they envisioned. A big mistake in my opinion.
For many people, a New Year is the next paragraph in their continuing story. The New Year doesn’t bring a new chapter, just a new paragraph to the same story they have been writing for several years. Each paragraph begins with a positive beginning, but soon gets lost in a maze of excuses. Oh, they don’t see them as excuses, but they are words designed to make it okay that they didn’t get things finished.
According to Erma Roquemore, author of “24Kt. Goal: Ten Steps to Personal and Professional Success” statistics show, that at least 50% of those who set a New Year’s resolution have abandoned it by the end of January and up to 90% by the end of the first quarter. Those are startling statistics.
Planning your day, your week, your month, your year, your life is important but you have to be smart about it and adjust the planning tool so that it does make sense for you. The dilemma with New Year’s Resolutions is typically that:
- People choose goals that they failed for the last five years. This history of failure sets up a continuation of failure.
- People choose goals that are unrealistic or too big to accomplish in the allotted time.
- People choose a goal but don’t develop a step-by-step strategy.
- People don’t realize that they have to make time / free up time for this goal, meaning that something else in life has to go.
- Most of their goals are based on “I should do this” rather than “I want to do this.” Hence the energy behind the goal is off.
- People lack the support of mentors, friends, and motivators who encourage them to move beyond obstacles.
That doesn’t mean that you should give up on goal setting completely. After all, life is about making progress and improvement. It is not about standing still. Action is a delicious way to spend life experience. It is one of the predominant reasons we have decided to come forth and be in a physical body.
A life without a desire or a dream is a nightmare we live out daily. Life needs direction; without direction we find ourselves going in circles; those circles steal our energy and leave us wondering not only what to do, but if it is the right decision. That can all be solved by defining our dream.
In the Balanced Physician program rather than focusing on goal setting, we focus on visioning. I am sure you have heard the quote many times, “some people spend more time planning their vacation than planning their lives and then they wonder why they don’t get anywhere.”
Stephen Covey emphasizes in his top-selling book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” the importance of “Beginning with THE END in mind.” Success by design. Whether a blueprint for a building, a growth plan for a medical practice, or a vacation planner for your next trip, it works. Begin with THE END in mind. That’s how to arrive at any destination you desire. It’s been said many different ways over the years, but that’s still my favorite way to say it… Envision any project, idea, or goal by thinking about where you want to end up.
What is a vision?
A vision is a magnetic force that stimulates the necessary energy, motivation, creativity and courage to reach an objective. Compelling visions have empowered and released human and organizational potential throughout history. The visioning process the way we use it in our program is a more holistic way of looking at what you want in your life. It doesn’t focus only on career / professional goals but also on family, financial, spiritual and relationship improvements. At the end, all the pieces will fit nicely together like a puzzle.
Experience has taught us that a 3-year vision is more effective than just a list of goals for the upcoming year. Thinking in one-year terms is rarely a big stretch for people. Instead thinking in 3-year terms allows people to think big, outrageous goals. They get your creative juices flowing, they make your heart beat a little faster and they make you gulp.
Exercise:
Write it in a present tense, as if it were 3 years later, that same day. For example, today is January 29, 2008; write as if it was January 29, 2011 and talk about all the things that had happened since 2008. Think about all the things that you accomplished in your business, with your family, your investments, your personal development, and your health. While going through this process, think big, let your imagination go, get in touch with your passion and your deepest desires.
Make sure you focus on what you really really want in your life and not what you should do in your life. After all, what you focus on you attract. When you know what you want for you life, when you can imagine it with passion and enthusiasm, it is almost guaranteed to come to you. If you feel that you don’t have the time for this or don’t know how to do it, contact me for further support.
Bonus tip:
One fun exercise that I include in my New Year’s ritual is to write down individual events that I want to experience in the New Year that don’t require extensive planning. So for example for this year, my list of events includes:
- A parachute jump
- Participation in another Schutzhund trial with my dog Cito
- Taking a 3-week vacation this summer
I look at this list at least once a week and focus on one of these events. And it is amazing how events fall into place; people show up, circumstances seem right.
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain
“Live in your imagination and not your memory.”
– Steven Covey
I am looking forward to reading your comments,
Iris Grimm
Creator of the Balanced Physician Program
www.BalancedPhysician.com