Instead of Making a New Year’s Resolution, Make a Game Plan!

It’s that time of year again - when many of us look in the mirror, take inventory and think about what we want to achieve over the next year.  Inevitably, this leads to declarations and resolutions which too often turn into disappointments.  Did you know that according to U.S. News & World Report, New Year’s resolutions have an 80% failure rate? And this was one of the more optimistic published statistics. 

Making resolutions, as with setting any goal, is a positive step forward and starts with the best intentions. Why then are these New Year’s goals so unsuccessful?  Why do most lose their resolve by mid-February?

The answer is simple:  Intention is irrelevant when the process is wrong. Historically, the goal-setting process leading to action has been flawed.  At the root, we often start with what we “should” do rather than what we “could” do. Extrinsic vs. intrinsic. This approach falls far short of empowering us to achieve what we really want.  

Goals matter. They give us purpose and add more meaning and intentionality to each day. Seeing so many goals wither and die drove us to develop a better process. One that nurtures goals and gives them a fighting chance to bloom.

The Game Plan System, or GPS, represents the process that can take you from where you are today to where you want to be “tomorrow.” 

The Game Plan System takes a lot more of YOU into consideration and it starts by replacing “should” with “could.” Using the GPS process, YOU will Identify where you are today and where YOU could be at a future point in time with goals that matter to YOU.  This is your journey. You plug in the GPS coordinates to get going in the right direction. Expect traffic, road construction and maybe even a few accidents along the way, but you overcome by always having a clear vision of what achieving your goal looks and feels like for you. 

Going through the Game Plan System step-by-step results in a personalized and detailed road map for you to achieve your goals.  The document you create captures what’s important to you in one simple sheet that you can post, carry around and even share with others.  You can print it out, laminate it and then execute against it just as football coaches create laminated strategy plans each Sunday - their GPS to win that game. 

Here’s the Game Plan format:

The first step is identifying the goal or goals you want to achieve. As discussed earlier, these are not “should” goals, such as “I should go for that promotion” or “I should lose 15 pounds,” as “should” goals don’t stand a chance.  New Year’s resolutions tend to be “should” goals and thus fail at a high rate.  While each may be on target, they are born from external forces and influences generally coming from well-intentioned people. Instead, ask yourself “What could I do that would be really meaningful to me?” and listen. The answers that emerge will come from within.  They may very well be similar to goals that come from others, but goals from within yourself will be sturdy enough to overcome the forces that push against your forward progress. 

Next, we take you through an exercise to focus on the goals that you truly want to achieve.  Given the long list generated of things you “could” do, this step requires you to determine what is most important to you.  The Purpose Puzzle is a simple tool that helps to identify the key pieces of your life that contribute to how you feel. 

Look at each puzzle section and see how it contributes (or not) to how you feel today. In the 1-5 scale, “1,” means that that piece is weighing you down. Choosing a “5” suggests that you feel great about that piece of your life. Think about where you are today, and where you might want to be “tomorrow.” What are the pieces you would want to move from, say a 2 to a 4, or those pieces that you want to maintain at a 4 or a 5? Choose three to four primary pieces and begin to position your goals around them. Time and energy are finite. Focus on a few for the biggest impact.  Well-selected goals have a cascading effect across one’s life.

At this point, you’ve identified a few primary goals and it is vital that you now accurately frame them for success. For this, we’ve developed the A-C-H-I-E-V-E Model.

The Goal MUST BE something that:

A – you can Action against. Focus on what you can control.  

C – is Consequential. It is something you care deeply about. A ‘could’ goal. 

H – it will be Hard but not a Herculean task.  A stretch goal, but not impossible. 

I    – Integrated with your other goals. (i) Learning a programming language and (ii) Getting promoted. 

E – is Explicitly clear, which allows you to measure progress against the goal.

V – taps into the power of Visualization - What will achieving the goal look like to you?

E – has an End point. A specific time horizon. By when will you achieve the goal? 

Now that you’ve clearly defined and visualized your most important goals, it’s time to fill to pen to paper.

CREATING YOUR GAME PLAN…

Step 1: After you have identified your focus areas, write the goal as a declarative statement: “I will put myself in a position to secure a promotion.” 

Step 2: Insert the “by when will you do this.”  June of next year?  September?  By the end of next year? 

Step 3: Fill in the section detailing WHY it’s important to you?  What will be the meaning and consequence of working towards and achieving the goal? You may say something like: 

“Positioning myself for a promotion represents that I care about my professional development

and allows me to generate additional income to save money for my daughter’s college tuition.” 

If your goal - and what it looks like - is the Vision, this represents your Mission – the driver behind why you want to accomplish it. 

Step 4: What actions are you going to take?  Maybe you could take an online course in a computer programming language, or discuss with your boss where you are currently, and what specifically will be required to get to the next level?  Try to be as explicit as possible and include your action dates. 

Step 5: The Image – When you think about accomplishing this goal, what image comes to mind? What does it look like to you?  Upon getting the promotion, are you seated in a new office? Are there additional funds on your paycheck?  Do you see a larger balance in the college savings account?  Do you have an image of your daughter in college? 

Images are powerful motivators.  If you were to ask the most successful athletes what they do prior to games, matches or competitions, imagery ranks high on their list.  Visualizing desired actions and outcomes are a critical component to their training and preparation. Why would this be any different for you?  You can draw an image or use a search engine to find images to insert into the Game Plan form. 

Step 6: Brand it!  When you look at “What” the Goal is, “Why” it’s important to you, the “Actions” you will take, and the “Image” it triggers, what caption comes to mind?  Expressed in a different way, what’s the hashtag?  We recommend you aim for one to four words so when looking at your Game Plan on a daily basis, you’ll see the image and your personal headline right at the top – something like: #Investing in Myself.  

What you write on your Game Plan only needs to be meaningful to you.  Remember, this entire exercise sits under the headline: What COULD YOU DO that would be consequential and impactful to YOU -- and to the people and causes YOU care about.  If the words and the images elicit powerful emotions, you’re already on the road to bringing tomorrow and your desired future closer to today.  

To give you the greatest chance of achieving your goals, we’ve developed a powerful process around How to Achieve. That and how to tap into the model comes next….