Rewire your brain for 2016
Q: Each year I’m quite successful without a professional plan. I’d like to create one this year to see if I can improve my results. But making resolutions doesn’t work for me. What do you suggest?
A: You’re not alone. One-third of all New Year’s resolutions are abandoned within the first month, and the majority within six months. For a greater success follow these five simple steps.
Take stock of 2015. Record your successes, accomplishments and breakthroughs, as well as your failures, disappointments and misses. This focuses your attention on what is rewarding and lessons learned for the coming year.
Now write out three to five themes, intentions or categories to focus on for the year. Some examples: professional development/education, developing others/mentoring or strategic planning/systems thinking.
Next, reflect on who you need to “be” throughout the year to be come successful in your themes. Write the characteristics or qualities of that type of individual. For example: proactive, visionary, empowering others.
Create a list of goals you want to achieve by the end of 2016 and that you would expect of the person above. For example: delegating 80 per cent of the work below your role, spending 60 per cent of your day planning strategically rather than being a hands-on leader, coaching team members to find their own solutions 75 per cent of the time.
Finally, break the goals down into specific manageable activities with measurable targets such as: take a coaching course by March 31, bite tongue at meetings so team members contribute first.
Resolutions typically fail when you try to achieve too much too fast. This year, focus on rewiring your brain and implementing new habits to achieve ongoing success.
Reprinted from The Province, January 10, 2016