232 days into 2011, got me thinking about what happen to my new resolutions. If you are like most people, your goals have either been forgotten months ago. What happen?

1. You underestimate how hard it is …

1. Diet books and ads too often promise full body make overs in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days? Know from the start that losing 1 kg, or increasing sales 10%, will take a lot of time and effort.
   • Be real! Achieving meaningful goals usually take a lot of work.
2. Do not give up too easy or get caught up in daily errands and distractions.

• By knowing the difficulties, you can be mentally prepared to meet inevitable challenges.

2. The goals are not your goals …

1. A goal that is destined for failure = “I’m just doing this because my boss wants me to” is.
   • If you’re doing something to please someone, you are going to find it impossible as soon as you encounter an interruption.
   • Have a strong personal reason and a WHY for a goal.
2. It is very tempting to tell yourself, “I’m incredibly busy” or I’ll get to this tomorrow.”
   • It is very easy to waste hours of in a work day on chatting or surfing the internet aimlessly.
   • Waiting for a “tomorrow” usually means never.
3. If you want to meet that 10% target, you need to be self-motivated and be committed.

3. Your goals have no visibility …

1. “Increasing customer satisfaction” is too general.
   • You need to identify the specific, quantifiable goal so that you can measure your progress on a regular basis.
   • Improving customer retention by 5 percent is better goal.
2. Regular monitoring reinforce your strategy and help you stay on track.
   • Put up visual figures or numbers which you can see goes up or down.
3. Also know that, very few people can focus on a goal, without checking to see how they are doing from time to time.

4. Your goals have no reward ….

1. If you set a goal to increase your KPI by 10%, and so far you have manage to achieve 2%, you are right to not feel much.
2. However, know that progress is frequently incremental and slow.
3. The key is to continue working and finding ways to improve.

5.  You goals have no friends …

1. There is good reason why many people who wanted to lose weight decided to join a club or a support groups.
   • Having like minded people around can help us emotionally when the going gets tough.
2. Sharing of your goal, can also help make you be accountable to your own promise.
   • A supportive person can help you stay focus to reach your goal.
   • But you would also need to have the courage and humility to admit any challenges and failures.

How have you achieved a difficult goal? How did you do it? I am still working on mine.

Happy blogging.