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What do you want to achieve in 2005?

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Published: 11Jan2005
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Welcome to the New Year everyone :-)

So what do you want to achieve this year.....?

- To start your own business?

- To lose some weight?

- To give up smoking?

- To quit your job?

- To spend more time with your family?

- To live a healthier lifestyle?

The statements above are some of the more common goals that people set themselves at the beginning of a New Year. This time of year is traditionally the time when we make 'New Year Resolutions' - those little promises to yourself that are usually forgotten about by the middle of January (if not sooner)!

So what can you do to ensure that your resolutions are not just a distant memory by Feb 1st? Well, everyone is different and I can't promise that the same techniques will work for all but one of the best ways of staying on track is to put some proper planning in place and that usually means writing things down.

It is all too easy to think to yourself 'Yup, I'm going to lose a few pounds by March' but if that is all you do, you will almost certainly fail. You need to take action and one of the easiest ways of forcing yourself to do this is to work to an action plan. Let me explain.....

With any major goal that you want to achieve, it should be possible to prepare a plan of how you wish to achieve the goal and over what timescale. To take the weight loss example above, you may have decided that you need to workout three times a week and cut out various foods if you are to achieve your target weight. Therefore put this down in writing and monitor yourself on a weekly basis to ensure that you are actually doing what you are supposed to be doing. If it helps, stick the entire plan/calendar on your wall or fridge so that you can't help but see it everyday.

If you want to start your own online business, you will need to be dedicating a certain amount of time to this each day, let's say two hours. So draw up a plan that covers the next few months which details exactly what you want to have achieved by the end of each week/month, for example:

Week 1 - Prepare basic template for website

Week 2 - Learn how to use a basic HTML editor

Week 3/4 - Design and build actual website

.....and so on.

Of course, the above is a very simplistic example and your real plan will probably be far more detailed but the point is that having a plan to work to WILL help.

Many people like working to lists - that is, they like having a list of outstanding tasks to do because they enjoy ticking the jobs off once they are completed. Working to a plan is very similar because you can 'tick off' each milestone as you pass it.

One thing that I wouldn't recommend though is spending too long drawing up the actual plan. I once worked for a company and was involved in a major project that had various timescales etc that had to be worked to and the Managing Director asked me to draw up a project plan in a particular format. Now this format was incredibly detailed and it would have taken me about a week just to prepare the plan. I felt this was wasted time and as the project leader, I refused to prepare the plan in the way that he wanted and instead spent a couple of hours drawing up a much simpler 'check list'. He wasn't impressed but I guess he was just one of those people that prefers to spend their time planning rather than DOING. The end result was that the project was completed on time and without too many problems but had I spent a week on unnecessary planning, we would have probably ended up a week behind schedule.

So plan your actions by all means but don't turn the actual planning phase into a project all of its own. People can sometimes be reluctant, even scared to take action and therefore drag the planning out as long as possible in order to put the 'hard work' off.

Don't let this happen to you and be sure you plan in the right way - don't use it as an excuse not to take action in the first place.

Planning won't guarantee that you achieve your goals but it will certainly help and will definitely give you the edge over the majority of people that simply don't bother.....

Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts), visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html

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