How to REALLY Keep your New Year's Resolutions

Here we are, two weeks into the New Year and one thing I can promise you about your New Year’s resolutions:

You Have Definitely Bitten Off More Than You Can Chew!

That might seem like a bold claim considering I don’t know what your specific goals are for this year; but if you’re anything like me, when the New Year rolls around you set these really big, idealistic goals that you want to hold yourself accountable to achieving.

The thing is, holding ourselves accountable can be really, really…REALLY tough over the long run. Yes, it is possible to do it for the first week, even the first month. Take this example as evidence: every January I can barely fit into my gym because it’s so over-packed.

Yet slowly but surely it becomes less and less busy every single week. By February, the gym is back to the usually swing of things.
Now, let me be clear, I’m not wishing that you or anyone fail at staying consistent with their goals. It’s just a fact of life that most people will not… and it’s sad.

Have you ever wondered why people really fail? I put some thought into it. I don’t think it’s because we don’t really care about our goals, or that they aren’t clear enough. It’s something else.

Let’s take the gym example. During the first few weeks of January the gym is packed, then like clockwork it eventually empties. Who is usually remaining in February? Generally speaking, two types of people:

Type 1: The person who has always frequently gone to the gym.

Type 2: The person who hired a personal trainer.

Let’s examine the two types. The first type has been going all along, and keeps going. The New Year doesn’t change anything about their habits.

The second type paid to have someone hold them accountable to their goals.

Let’s look deeper into this and why it’s so powerful. Having others hold us accountable to our goals is crucially important to maintaining them over time.

Think about this: If you wanted to go running 3 miles at 6am every day, chances are eventually you will fall off because you feel tired or, it’s raining, or, [fill in the blank with whatever excuse you tell yourself]. But if you have someone waiting for you outside at 6am, you would get up even when you didn’t want to. That’s what accountability will do.

Now let’s look a little deeper.

The person who pays for a trainer will probably be there at a higher percentage than the two people who just became gym buddies. Why? There is more skin in the game. Having a gym buddy is great. If both of you are so dedicated you never bail, then chances are it will work really well.

But it’s important that both people are dedicated. If one falls off too much (or even once), you will always be able to justify your not making it…just this once. It’s infectious.
The person who pays for a trainer has a lot of skin in the game. There’s a whole lot to lose if no action is taken. If they don’t show up, they’ve lost money. And it’s the trainer’s job to show up so they always will. And the person will have to deal with the trainer calling and checking in on them, and the social pressure of letting someone else down. There’s a lot to it.

I think this concept applies to starting a business, growing a business, or whatever else your New Year’s goals may be. You have to be held accountable to your goals and you have to have skin in the game to make reaching your goals worth it.

To make accountability work, there has to be a system. Over the past few years we at Extreme Entrepreneurship have put a lot of work into researching and testing accountability methods that work. We’ve created an accountability software program for organizations to use to hold aspiring entrepreneurs accountable to successfully launching their business.

The JourneyPage Virtual Business Incubator uses a system of accountability that connects students with mentors who hold them accountable to their goals. You can see the 8 principles that make the JourneyPage system work here http://journeypage.com/philosophy.php

If you are serious about 2011 being better than 2010, you should use an accountability system to take you to the next level.

And you can hold me to that statement!

You're Awesome!
-Arel Moodie
JournePage, Virtual Business Incubator


JourneyPage is a virtual business incubator for usage inside the class to increase engagement or in the community to increase business formation www.journeypage.com