Forget resolutions for 2024, what you need to make is a detailed plan
Up a tree in ’23? Time to get off the floor in ’24.
Forget resolutions. We all know that resolutions last approximately a week to 10 days at the most before they are forgotten in a frenzy of overeating, under-exercising and over-spending.
The gyms may be filled for a week or two after the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, but after that, it’s back to business as usual for most people. Besides, resolutions are typically vague and fuzzy, so we won’t feel bad when we fail to live up to them.
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So, here’s a proven methodology for getting everything that you want in 2024.
Don't just spout off a few New Year's resolutions, draft a document called '2024 – Year In Review.' Make it detailed and hold yourself to it. (iStock)
First, take some time right now, before the frenzy of the new work year begins, to ask yourself where you would like to be a year from now. Get specific in every department of life – family, work, earnings, net worth, relationships, health, fitness, and whatever else lights you up.
Then follow the guidance of longtime New York career coach David Dowd, who advises writing a "year in review" document even before the new year begins.
That’s right – sit down with the list of accomplishments you’d like to see in this year and draft a document called "2024 – Year In Review." Write in the past tense, Dowd says, as if the things you’re hoping for have already come into existence.
Don’t sweat over how exactly you will accomplish all these great goals. Leave that to the universe and your subconscious. For now, you’ve got a blueprint, a map, guideposts, whatever you want to call it, so that you know where to direct your efforts.
Otherwise, the coming year will be like the years before it – a wandering generality without clear-cut goals.
Next, you are setting your financial goals, for income and net worth, always put the words "or better" after any number you write down. Why put an upper limit on what the universe can give you in the coming 12 months? The words "or better" mean that you are willing to accept abundance even beyond that for which you are asking.
Third, don’t wait to feel confident or courageous about achieving your goals once you’ve defined them. Strategic Coach founder Dan Sullivan points out that most people wait until they feel confident before they try something new.
The problem, Sullivan notes, is that confidence is a byproduct of action, never a precursor. In other words, if you’re waiting to feel confident before you make a move, you will never take action. Instead, accept the idea that you will be uncomfortable for a while, and then bask in the glow of the great results that surely will follow.
Part of your plan for 2024 should be family life. How do you improve it? (iStock)
Famed motivator Zig Ziglar had a circular business card with the letters TUIT on it in big capital letters. Why? "Because people say," he would explain with a laugh, "I’ll do that when I get around to it." Well, once they had Ziglar‘s business card, they had ... wait for it … a round TUIT. And one less excuse for getting things done.
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Fourth, highly successful people write down their goals on a small card and carry those goals in their wallets or purses. They don’t have to look at those goals to know that they’re there and that they are the targets to shoot for. What’s in your wallet?
Fifth, want to turbocharge your dreams coming true? Author and speaker Dr. Joe Dispenza suggests reciting your desires to yourself twice daily, promptly upon awakening and just before going to sleep. Dispenza writes that it's easier to effect change on the quantum level than here in the material world. If you understood that last sentence, you're way ahead of me, but do what he says anyway.
Sixth, take massive action toward your goals, and don’t wait for anyone else to clear the path for you. We tend to be passive, expecting advertisers, social media, friends and family, or worse, the government, to tell us how to feel happy. As a result, we never think proactively, and as a result, goals and dreams never happen.
That’s right – sit down with the list of accomplishments you’d like to see in this year and draft a document called "2024 – Year In Review." Write in the past tense, Dowd says, as if the things you’re hoping for have already come into existence.
Finally, if your dreams don’t come true immediately, don’t give up. Author and speaker Tony Robbins says sometimes people tell him, "I tried 100 different ways, and none of them worked." Tony responds with a laugh, "OK, tell me all 100 ways. I’ve got time."
Of course, chances are, the person only tried one or two or three ways to achieve success and then quit. Robbins gives the example of a football team that runs a play that fails to gain yardage. What do they do, take off their helmets, run off the field, and go to the locker room for a good cry? No. They run another play. And another play. And another play. You do likewise.
Deepak Chopra says that you can think of the universe as a short order cook that’s ready to serve up anything you request. So, dream big. Ask for the moon this coming year. Why not? It’s all there waiting for you.
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New York Times bestselling author Michael Levin runs www.MichaelLevinWrites.com, a book ghostwriting firm.
