You don't have to be a great American novelist. You don't have to write page after page, hour after hour. You don't have to spend a lot of money on your Daily Resolution Diary, but you do have to 'do it'. If you can't 'check-in' every single day, then try to connect with your diary every few days, or at least once each week. Writing things down is important if you want to make steady progress.
It's amazing how fast time flies, how much each one us us has to think about and absorb in any given day. With that in mind, don't try to do these 'check-in's' once each month! Too much time passes. If you're moving forward with your resolution there will be many tasks and milestones in a month's time - too many to realistically guage how you're truly doing, or whether or not your plan is working! It's easier to make a quick course correction when you're paying close attention to the details, on paper, every few days rather than once a month, or every couple weeks.
I've learned, both in my business and my personal life, a great way to brainstorm, think ideas through, and experience 'ah-ha' moments, is to commit your thoughts to paper. When you actually write things down it forces you to think in a structured, concise way, make 'order out of chaos', and outline your plans in a clear fashion, so you can take one small step toward achieveing your resolution each day, or every other day.
Flexibility is as important as focus. Yes, you do need a simple system to follow, a plan that consists of small manageable steps that will take you from start to finish. Yes, you should try to connect with your diary every day, or as often as possible each week to keep the momentum going, but you still can be flexible. If you're not rigid in your thinking, and if you can go with the flow on those days when your resolution is overtaken by events, you'll make the necessary course corrections, and ultimately arrive smiling at the finish line.
Writing things down helps you to track progress and guage how your plan is or isn't working. Those written words will help you to make changes and stick with timetables. Most importantly your journal will reveal your hard won achievements! Accountablity and reward go hand in hand. The more you succeed, the more you will succeed because your confidence, skill level, self esteem, and happiness increase with each and every hard won victory!
So go out and spend a few bucks on a spiral notebook and a wall calendar. There's no better time than the present to begin making your resolution, your dream, your goal a reality! One Resolution, One Day At A Time For One Year!
Kim Simpson, a former journalist, provides communications and fundraising services and strategic planning, for Members of Congress, Non-Profit Organizations and Associations in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. A self-employed entrepreneur, she launched IResolveTo.Com in 2005 in an effort to help others to achieve their New Year Resolutions, Dreams and Goals. Her motto is - I Resolve To Achieve My New Year Resolutions: One Resolution, One Day At A Time For One Year™. Let's 'Go For It'.
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