2005 Without Resolution - Eat the Elephant Instead

By Keith Morrison

New Years day is on our heels with a bullet. I am sure that you and your loved ones have been spending a
great deal of your December focusing on that time tested tradition of creating your laundry list of New
Years Resolutions. Those convictions and promises that will surely turn your life into success and order.

Here. Lean a little closer to your screen and listen to me. Ready?

STOP! DON'T MAKE ANY NEW YEARS RESLOUTIONS! (a gasp and then silence falls across the room). What! No New Years Resolutions! Why that's absurd! That's just crazy!

Crazy? Crazy was defined somewhere by someone as "doing the same thing over and over again expecting
different results." With that in mind, how many years have you been making New Years Resolutions? And of all those Resolutions, how many did you accomplish and stick with? Now who is crazy?

As you think about your New Year Resolutions (NR for short) then vocalize those NRs you're actually creating a series of "orders" for that butler in your mind we call our subconscious (I'll call it Subby for now).

Subby has a really low sense of humor (actually no sense of humor) and like a dedicated servant, takes every thing you say literally.

You see, Subby's main function in life is to protect you and make you feel warm and fuzzy about yourself
and your decisions. Warm and Fuzzy is good, but when you're trying to make some real changes, sometimes
cold and bumpy is a bit more of what your needing at the moment. Stepping out of the comfort zone. Thinking outside the box. You know all those catchy phrases. Totally opposite of what Subby does.

Say for example your NR is to "Eliminate Debt in 2005!" Cheers! Eliminate debt! You head out the door January 2 and on the way to work you make your way to the designer coffee "drive-thru" for your $2.25 morning kick start.

Later in the afternoon you need that little extra kicker to help you get to the end of your shift and pick up that late late'. A little sweeter than the morning cup this time at $3.75.

Subby cheers you along almost pinching your cheeks saying "It's okay! YOU NEED THIS!" Subby never had you stop and consider that you do this 5 days per week 50 weeks of the year. Subby has lead you down the path for about $1,500 per year. Time to retrain Subby don't you think? Really it is all Subby's fault now isn't
it?

NR's are like trying to eat the whole elephant. Resolutions lack what it takes to keep you (and Subby) motivated and focused. Instead, try setting GOALS this year. Goals are similar to resolutions but a goal is
cut up into nice bite size pieces.

As in the designer coffee example, you could cut out your afternoon cup and put that $3.75 into a jar at home. You can even decorate the jar and label it "Debt Killer." At the end of the year you would have saved in the neighborhood of $937 that you could apply to one of your debts, thus taking you one step closer
to your Big Picture Goal of Debt Elimination in 2005.

If you also had the goal of losing weight, not having the extra input from the beverage would be a bonus. All the while Subby is in the back ground cheering you on making you feel a sense of accomplishment in
repeating your mantra "Each day I take a bite of the elephant. It is good! I am accomplishing my goal"

Goals let you see your accomplishments. Before you know it, you have not only stuck with your plan, you've accomplished it! You visit your goals every day & see your accomplishments every day. Every day you're reinforcing your commitment to yourself and your success.

You can look in the mirror accomplishing your mission and say proud and loud "It's GREAT to be A M.E.E." (Master Elephant Eater!)

 

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This page last updated January 6, 2005