As the New Year begins, there is always talk about New Year’s resolutions. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions; as I figure that if I determine I should change something, why wait? And, it is rather overwhelming to have 1000 things add up to begin on January 1st! So, instead, my goal is attainable for me – make them all year long, and in manageable chunks. I advocate a continual evaluation and refinement of your approaches to achieving success. I’ve found that it can make a significant difference to your level of success. So, to stimulate your ideas, here are a few tips for personal success:

  1. Know yourself: Be careful as to whom you accept advice from, even if they have 3 fancy titles and/or degrees behind their name. Do they know what works for you? Instead, listen to all advice and determine what makes sense for you. As my Organizational Development/ HR mentor said to me once, just because you receive advice / feedback, doesn’t mean 100% of it is correct for you. “Say thank you. Use what makes sense and throw out the rest”. It sounds obvious now, but it was profound advice. After all, who knows what will work for you better than you?
  2. Say “no”: Limit your workload to what is achievable. I’ve found that aiming for what is a “stretch” yet achievable works best for me. If it is just a “sounds nice goal” yet I know it isn’t achievable, it is de-motivating. What can be worse than setting you up for sure failure? And, actually, the same holds true for agreeing to a goal that is too easy – what motivation is there in that case? Who cares?
  3. Be upfront with people (including yourself): As hard as it sounds at first, be upfront with people. They will respect you. You will respect you. And, it is far less stressful (and involves significantly less wasted time) in the end. Again, my HR mentor was correct – it does get easier over time. And, it definitely results in far greater success.
  4. Prioritize: Stop wasting all your time on the unimportant, yet perhaps easy-to-do tasks. Focus on the priorities – the ones that will drive success and don’t worry about the rest. You’ll end up with twice as much time – and with double the results.
  5. Be persistent: As I’m fondly known as “the pit terrier”, I know many of you will chuckle. There is a fine line between persistence and becoming a nuisance (as I continually learn); however, the majority of people give up just as they are about to achieve success. Try going one more centimeter when you are ready to give up and see what happens. I look forward to hearing the results!