Setting Goals - No New Year Resolution For You

Goal setting, New Year's resolutions, personal decrees...do you find yourself squirming at the though? When New Year rolls around most of us join the world in saying, "This year I resolve to..." Even after we promise ourselves we will stick with it this time, we fail. Again we fall back into the same old routines. Eventually we come the point where we convince ourselves not to make resolutions, after all why set goals just to break them? Our failure to keep these resolutions boils down to that nasty "p" word - procrastination. Once on the road to procrastination, we are trapped on a seemingly one-way journey of putting things off.

The real question is, "Do you want to be successful in life?" A vision and goal helps you accomplish more during your lifetime. Rather than waste time in procrastination, set goals as checkpoints along the way. Instead of not getting anything done because you keep saying, "I'll do it next time," you'll find yourself actually achieving your personal desires. Your motivation to keep going steadily increases and you'll discover yourself wanting to set more goals. Enthusiasm to carry out your ambitions will put raise your performance levels to first-class. Hold your head high with pride and assurance. Prove to the whole world you're a flourishing individual. When you fail to procrastinate you'll be able to show off your achievements and gains satisfaction from the approval of your peers. You'll be a happier person when you know you set goals, and you conquered them.

Just last week I ran into a man I haven't seen since high school. During the course of our conversation, Bruce informed me that after graduation from high school he became a professional wrestler. He talked of the hardships along the way, and hurdles that he'd had to face, but insisted that he would do it all over again. Curious, I asked, "Bruce, how did you become so successful?" He replied, "Well, it sure didn't come overnight. It took months and months of practicing and training. Man, I tell you, I got discouraged at times."

To get where he was going, Bruce set some personal goals, pursued them unfalteringly, and is a successful wrestler today. He walks with his head held high. His self-confidence and pride in personal accomplishments give him the air of a contented individual. He placed some standards in his life and worked hard to complete every one of them. The gratification received by working hard to become what he is enables him to perform well today. His dazzling performance in the wrestling arena awes the crowd, but his stamina in sticking to his goals has me spellbound.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are three things declared in the Declaration of Independence to be unalienable rights of man. We all desire happiness and peace of mind as well as long for successful fulfilling lives. Happiness is a privilege available to us that no one has the freedom to take away. Goal setting is a stepping stone to attaining that happiness. It doesn't matter what your goal is - losing weight, fixing a character flaw, or even redecorating your house - you can achieve it! It's been said many times that, "You can do anything, if you set your mind to it." Don't kid yourself - goals are attainable. New Year's resolutions, here I come!