Rewrite Your Story

Let's face it: New Year's resolutions fail; business plans fail; goal-setting fails; 5-year plans fail; follow-through fails. Part of the reason for the ubiquity of failure is we like goals that sound good. "Sounds good" generally means it is the opposite of our automatic behaviors and even our behaviors we are willing to consider. That's strategic self-harm right there.

Don't state goals. Evaluate what you are willing to do and unwilling to do. Then you'll discover your goals. When someone says his goal is weight-loss, I question that. Is he willing to do what it takes to lose fat? If not, his goal is weight gain, not weight loss, regardless of the statement. When someone says her business goal is growth, I question that. Is she willing to do what it takes to grow? If not, then her goal is contraction and downsizing, regardless of the statement.

Honest self-assessment is the path to discover goals. Whether it's fitness or business, the new mode of improvement is going to have to come from outside somewhere. That is, you have to accept another paradigm of lifestyle than your current one within you. Find what you will do. That is your goal. All else is fantasy. Fantasy makes for good stories - no doubt. But your story must be rewritten in reality.