BY JEFF CORBETT
While visiting a remote mountain town, a tourist walking down Main Street was approached by a scruffy hillbilly fresh out of the woods.
Carrying a shotgun and a jug, the mountain man offered the tourist a swig, which he graciously declined. Visibly offended, the hillbilly pointed his gun at the man and ordered, “Drink!”
The visitor reluctantly did so and then quickly spit the moonshine out on the ground.
“Good heavens!” he exclaimed. “That is the most vile liquid I’ve ever tasted!”
The hillbilly grinned, slapped his knee, and squealed, “Ain’t it though! Now, you hold the gun on me while I take a drink.”
Make Yourself Do It
Every so often I wish I had someone like the hillbilly to hold me accountable for getting things done.
Have you ever dragged something out forever? For the past two years, I’ve wanted to write a seminar on Creativity for Business Professionals, but I can never seem to get it started.
I’ve promised myself that 2025 is when this positively must get done.
With the end of the year upon us, as you look back over the past 12 months, what goals did you have that are still undone? What 2024 resolutions did you make that never got off the ground?
It’s Time for Resolutions
During the next several weeks, the news and social media will be buzzing about what resolutions you have made or how to make them come alive.
Below are some 2024 New Year’s stats:
♦ 80% of people who made resolutions felt confident they can stick to them, but according to Forbes magazine, only 9% do;
♦ 23% of people quit their resolutions by the end of the first week;
♦ 43% of those making resolutions quit by the end of January; and
♦ Women make more resolutions than men
The top five New Year’s resolutions in 2024 were
♦ Saving more money (59%);
♦ Exercising more (50%);
♦ Eating healthier (47%);
♦ Spending more time with family and friends (40%); and
♦ Losing weight (35%)
So What To Do?
Go ahead, make a resolution or two. The most important part of this tradition is actually doing it. But how?
Create Deadlines
Douglas Adams, author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” said that he loved “the whooshing sound” of deadlines as they whizzed by. Deadlines can be productivity’s best friend.
Put another way, author Diana Scharf-Hunt believes that “goals are dreams with deadlines.”
Establish realistic timelines, review them daily, and adjust your course to meet your goal. Be flexible but disciplined.
SMART Goals
This is a very helpful acronym for realistic, doable goals you can measure. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
This approach eliminates generalities and guesswork, sets a clear timeline, and makes it easier to track progress and identify missed milestones.
Eating the Elephant
What was holding me back on my Creativity project was that it was so big and required a massive chunk of time to get it off the ground. Your resolutions may be the same.
Divide your resolution into manageable chunks of time, say 30 minutes here or an hour there.
You don’t eat an elephant in one bite, but slowly, one piece at a time.
Your Model for Success
Understanding the Transtheoretical Model of Change can give you great insight to making a change in your life.
Don’t let the title scare you — the formula is very simple and eye-opening. Google the term to help you increase your success rate.
Delay Can Be Deadly
Remember that catchy ditty, “All things come to those who wait, but when they come, they’re out of date?”
I’m convinced procrastination is career suicide on an installment plan.
The key — or magic bullet — is simply hitting head-on those things you’ve been putting off or dreading.
The Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu noted “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
An old truth warns that “Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.”
Only you can rewrite this epitaph. Let’s get started!
Jeff Corbett is an experienced public speaker, meeting facilitator and sales/marketing professional. He lives in Statesville.