A few years ago I was at a party on New Year’s Eve. The conversation turned to new year’s resolutions and what changes we were all going to make come midnight. There were the usual vows to quit smoking, lose weight, and save money. What sticks out most about this particular party for me was that at the stroke of midnight, those who said they would quit smoking (myself included) all got up and tossed our cigarette packs in the trash.

It’s probably pretty telling that not one of us tossed our lighter out with the smokes. Before the end of the night a couple of the group were begging smokes from other party goers. I lasted until dinner at the in-laws the next day and I stopped at bought a pack on the way over because I just knew I wouldn’t make it through the afternoon without one. The longest anyone lasted was about a week and by the end of the first week in January we were all back to smoking.

Flash forward a few years…

It’s the middle of summer and I’m sitting in the emergency room hooked up to the oxygen machine after what I thought was a second heart attack. (No, I didn’t quit smoking after the first one but that’s a story for another day.) On the way out the door after being released, I chucked my smokes in the garbage. That was a little over three years ago, and I haven’t had one since.

What’s the difference? Both decisions were the same — quit smoking cold turkey. Both actions I took were the same — chuck the smokes in the trash. So why was one action successful and the other doomed to failure from the start?

The difference, I’ve learned, is all in your mindset. The new year’s resolution, made in the heat of the moment was done with no sense of commitment, and if I’m honest with myself, no real intention of following through. I wasn’t ready to quit smoking, I knew it, and so I didn’t.

After my visit to the hospital I was ready to quit. I wasn’t making a decision based on what anyone else was doing. I was making a change to my life that would allow me to live longer and more healthfully. Alone in a hostile environment (I really dislike hospitals), my mindset was totally different than it had been on New Year’s Eve among friends.

The point to this is that most new year’s resolutions are doomed to failure from the minute we label them as such. The mindset attached to them is one of short term change. We make resolutions every year, so it’s no biggie if we don’t succeed. We’ll just resolve to do better the next year. At least we tried, right? This type of decision making in what amounts to a spur-of-the-moment manner really doesn’t bode well for making a successful change.

That’s not to say that making changes to better your life is a bad thing. It’s a great thing to want to change what you know isn’t working. Myself and hundreds of other personal development bloggers, authors, and speakers are only too happy to tell you how great it is, and how we love that you’re doing this.

But what you need to ensure your long term success is a plan and a system. By having a clear outcome in mind, and a way to keep yourself on track while you’re making changes, you will stand a much better chance at succeeding. It all starts with your mindset though, and the answer to the question — Am I making a new year’s resolution or a lifestyle change?

Today’s post is gonna be short and sweet. I’ve been fighting with a new wordpress theme on my marketing blog all day and I’m beat. Top it all off with what I thought was going to be a quick trip to the store, and two hours later… What was I thinking?

So tonight I shall defer to the experts and share with you my top 10 favorite quotes on setting goals.
There are so many great ones it’s hard to narrow it down, so this is my own personal preference. If you’ve got one to share, feel free to leave it in the comments.

1. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. – Earl Nightingale

2. This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything. – Scott Reed

3. What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving yoru goals. – von Goethe

4. You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures. – Charles. C. Noble

5. Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level neither too low nor too high. – Greg Norman

6. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. – Mark Victor Hansen

7. A goal is created three times. First as a mental picture. Second, when written down to add clarity and dimension. And third, when you take action towards its achievement. – Gary Ryan Blair

8. Reduce your plan to writing… The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire. – Napoleon Hill

9. Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal. – E. Joseph Crossman

10. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.- Anthony Robbins

Don’t forget to leave your favorite quotes on setting goals in the comments!

In my last post I talked about the need for taking baby steps toward achieving your goals. Today I want to look at why baby-step goals will give you a greater advantage when it comes to getting what you want out of life.

There is a school of thought that says that goals are not really necessary. And that people only set goals, or make new years resolutions because they feel like they’re supposed to. It’s the whole idea of a fresh start that draws people in, and has them setting goals they have no intentions of keeping.

Personally, I think that setting goals is one of the most important things you can do to make sure that you’re living life on your own terms. We need a reason to get up in the morning. We need to feel like we’re accomplishing something with our lives. There has to be some result that you are wanting to achieve. It doesn’t matter if it’s a complex goal like making a million dollars, or as simple as finishing that book you’ve been dying to read.

I would argue that it’s not that people set goals they have no intention of keeping, but more a case of they set goals that they have no idea how to go about achieving! They want to take these huge giant drastic leaps toward a better life and get frustrated when the results aren’t big enough or fast enough.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make big goals. Heck I have goals for the coming year that I have no idea yet how I’m going to get accomplished. But that doesn’t stop me from trying to get there bit by bit. What it does mean is that I’m breaking them down into little baby-step goals, and that by accomplishing small things my chances of getting the big thing done are that much greater.

Here’s the thing that it’s taken me forever to figure out… If you focus on getting that one little thing done, it fuels your excitement and builds momentum toward the completion of your ultimate goal. This way even if it takes longer to reach the finish line, you will still have a sense of accomplishment to build on. And I don’t know about you, but for myself, I’d much rather have a small success to reflect on, than to give up in total frustration.

What about you? Do you think goals are necessary? Or are they a waste of time? I’d love to hear your thoughts.