Recipe for Resolution #12 - Action!

Create plans of action. Dreams are your thoughts, priorities are your world, goals are your destinations and the plan of action is the detailed series of tasks or the navigation system and roadmap that gets you to your destinations.

Start with your top priority goals and make a detailed plan of action for each. Example: Your top priority health goal may be to lose 30 pounds by March 31st. Break this goal into more measurable and manageable stair-step goals – I will lose 10 lbs per month Jan, Feb and March - totalling 30 pounds by March 31st.

Plan of Action:

• Join the gym and workout a minimum of one hour per day after work – exercise to include cardio (bike, treadmill and aerobics), nautilus and free weights.
• Stop eating fast food immediately and permanently.
• Take a 30 minute walk on my lunch break every weekday.
• Take a hot yoga class in the morning before work twice a week on Tues and Thurs.
• Visit the sauna for 20 minutes on days that I don’t do yoga - Mon, Wed, Fri.
• Shop healthy – buy fresh organic fruits and veggies.
• Eat 6 to 8 healthy meals a day and consume portion sizes smaller than my fist.
• Limit couch time and TV watching to only one hour per night.

Each of these tasks or mini-resolutions are part of a detailed plan of action that will lead you to accomplishing your bigger goal. Remember, the most important part of a plan of action is the ACTION!

Recipe for Resolution #10 - Identify

Identify the difference between a goal and a task. A goal is a destination, a big picture dream, desire, want, need, etc… A task is something you do to reach a goal and is only a step on the staircase to the goal… The bigger the goal the higher the staircase. Tasks are part of the plan of action that gets you to where you want to be.

Recipe for Resolution #6 - Time Allocation

Take a good look at your schedule and calendar. Think about your daily routine and how you spend your time. Is your time allocation congruent with your priorities list?

Many people I coach say that their health, GOD or family are their top priorities, but after a coaching session, they realize that their time allocation is not indicative of their priorities – for instance, after charting their weekly schedule and time usage, they realize that they spend 40 hours at work, another 10 hours getting ready for and traveling to work, 14 hours watching TV, 60 hours sleeping, 11 hours are spent goofing-off or time that cannot be accounted for. On their top priorities, they spent less than 2 hours working out or exercising, less than 4 hours of true quality time with the family and only 1 hour at church. 

Working with a life coach or accountability partner can help you get your life in balance and find “extra” time to do the things that are high on your priority list. Investing time in your top priorities will have an exponentially greater return than simply spending or wasting your time on lower priority items. Making resolutions for the New Year will be futile if you don't make time to actually do them!