Break it down

Rather than focusing on the end result (which can be overwhelming, especially if your goal is substantial), focus on the first step. If your goal is to write a book, begin with the outline, or the first chapter, or the first page. Decide how and by when each step will take place. When a big goal is broken down into manageable chunks, it’s much more likely to succeed.

I listened to an interview with a man who nearly died after being separated from his climbing party on Mt. Everest. His description of this feat is one of the most incredible stories I’ve ever heard. The short version is this: Man finds himself injured and alone on Everest. He doesn’t know exactly where camp is, but he knows it’s an impossibly long trek. He immediately realizes that if he stands any chance of making it, he needs to break down the journey into small steps, or he’ll give up. So, he looks at a rock about 100 feet away in the general direction of camp and makes that his goal. He begins crawling towards it. Finally he makes it. He picks out another landmark, a snow drift some distance away. He craws towards it. He repeats this process until he is finally able to drag himself into camp.

This story is a perfect illustration of our process attaining a serious goal. Break it down to small steps, understand exactly how to do each one, and stay focused on the task at hand rather than overall progress. Keep moving and success is inevitable.

Tell People

As many people as you can. Tell people who will hold you accountable and be a positive influence, or those who will give you hell if you don’t make your goal. This is often all the motivation needed for us to keep working in the face of failure.

Make no mistake: a substantial goal or resolution will not be easy to keep. The people we surround ourselves with are sometimes our best assets. It’s pretty easy to give up on yourself when you know nobody else will have anything to say about it. Heading to the gym for another boring slog on the treadmill will become almost impossible after the first 3-6 weeks. Nobody there cares if you show back up; often times, the people at the desk expect and even want you to quit early. Hence the prevalence of pre-paid 1 year contracts.

When we give our word to somebody, it’s much more difficult to give up. When we have other people invested in our goals, we want to win for their sakes as well. At the dojo, for example, every other student in class, all the staff and myself are all very interested in your success. The longer you come to class, the better partner you become, the stronger everyone’s practice gets. We hold each other up and keep each other motivated. If you don’t show up for one week, you get a call.

This piece of advice has had a huge impact on my power to accomplish my goals and keep my resolutions. Those of you who have been to class recently already know at least one of my goals: to meditate every day for 1 hour, and 2 hours once per week. Feel free to ask me how my resolutions are going. I’ll do the same for you.

Power through the Hiccups

The last thing I’ll say about resolutions: it is quite difficult to keep something up for an entire year. Some of us have experienced this in the past. We say, “I’m eating healthy every day in 2016!” and two days later, we’re in the drive through at McDonald’s. Don’t allow this to stop you. If you made it your goal, it was important when you were in a good frame of mind. Don’t allow yourself to give up for the rest of the year and say, “Well, I’ll try again in 2017.” See it as a momentary lapse, don’t spend time kicking yourself for it, and get right back on the horse.

The ability to set goals and resolutions and actually keep them is one of the most powerful forces we have at our disposal as humans. It takes practice, but the more we do so, the easier it becomes. Build up this skill and make 2016 the year you get everything you strive for.