As we bid farewell to 2012 and usher in the New Year with renewed hope and enthusiasm, I can’t help but to delve into resolutions.Now there are two main trains of thoughts when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. Some feel it’s a complete waste of time, a silly tradition, and never bother to even make an effort to set one. While others will set resolutions year after year, and it will be those exact same unresolved resolutions that make the list, well… year after year.
Yes, the ever-elusive New Year’s Resolution has faded in its original intention – to set a goal, to strive to achieve it and to be successful.
You may call me a dreamer, or an idealist, but I take resolutions seriously. And at the start of every year I make it a point to have a list of 10 that I will actually put in effort to mark off as the year goes on.
The thing that people don’t realize is that the key to accomplishing any goal, whether it be a New Year’s resolution or not, is clarity.
Tony Robbins said it best – Clarity is power.
With resolutions, it’s not about the how, but about the why.
Take for example to popular goal to ‘lose weight’. Everybody knows the only way to lose weight is to eat right and exercise. Yet so many struggle with it every day. They know what they need to do, they know how to do it, so what’s missing?
The answer is simple. The ‘why’ is not strong.
Again, it’s all about clarity. What you want to achieve is only half the equation, to fully realize that dream, you need to establish why you want to do it.
Looking back on 2012, I managed to strike off four out of my ten resolutions. The biggest one, the one that scared me the most, was public speaking.
To hold my own seminar and share my knowledge with others has always been a dream of mine. But a dream is just a dream unless you set it as a goal. And the only thing that was holding me back, was me.
The fear that gripped me at the thought of standing on stage in front of a hall full of strangers is indescribable. To strip myself bare for all the world to see, for all the world to criticize… I talked myself out of doing it for many years.
Now there are moments in your life that you’ll look back on as turning points. For me, meeting Tony Robbins was the pinnacle of life-changing moments. It was like a veil had been lifted from my eyes, one that I never even knew was there.
That moment came when he told me this:
“If you can’t, then you must.”
And that’s something I’ve taken to heart.
After so many years of feeling that I can’t speak on stage, I decided to take the first step to conquering my fear. I attended seminars and enrolled myself into trainings.
And finally in mid-2012, the opportunity presented itself and I grabbed it. This time with no hesitation. Now don’t get me wrong, that fear was still in me. But I was determined not to allow it to rule me.
I did it.
I held my first seminar – Internet Income Intensive.
And once I faced my fear, I realized how un-scary it actually was.
It was a great success. The crowd was warm and inviting, I couldn’t have been more blessed or honored to be in their company.
A few months later, I started receiving messages that my seminar had impacted individuals positively. My students were implementing lessons I had shared. And they were achieving their goals of making money online.
Now I’m not one to take credit for the accomplishments of others. But to see how well they were doing after attending my seminar… I gotta say, it felt good.
By conquering my fear and completing the goal to speak in public, I had actually helped others reach their goals.
Their success was my success.
I have more seminars lined up this year, the first will be in March. And this time, there is no fear.
Another resolution I achieved was to start my own Internet marketing company – Smobble. It took a lot of planning, time and investment. There were set-backs and heart-aches. But I knew what I wanted, and more importantly I knew why I wanted it. So in November 2012 things came together, and I was finally able to check that off my to-do list.
So be clear of your goals and know why you want to achieve them.
Now, I’m not perfect. Far from it. I have a recurring resolution that makes the list every year too. Wanna know what it is?
To get 6-pack abs… a new year’s resolution for 6 years running!
I see you grin. And I must admit I’m feeling quite self-conscious to share that goal with you. But in the spirit of open honesty, yes, 6-pack abs. It’s been a resolution of mine for 6 years running.
And I have made progress. I have. In fact, that goal is exactly approximately 15% complete 😛 Again, it’s a weak ‘why’. The reason I want 6-pack abs is because I want 6-pack abs. Haha.
As for my resolutions for 2013, the main one is to set up a marketing platform for marketers. If that sounds cryptic, it should. It’s something I’ve been working on steadily so I can’t go into the details yet. But I assure you, when everything is set and ready to go, you’ll be the first to know about it right here!
So do yourself a favor and indulge in a resolution this year. Focus on the why. Get obsessed with it.
2013 is ours. Let’s make it happen.
