According to the 1/1/2014 report issued by the
University of Scranton Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 45% of American’s
actually make a New Year’s Resolution in the first place. Of those that do,
only a scant 8% are successful in keeping their resolution and achieving their
personal objective. When viewed in terms of the U.S. population in its
entirety, only 3.24% of Americans from an overall perspective keep their
resolutions.
The thing that I find ever so intriguing about
the University of Scranton’s findings is that they so accurately mirror another
college study that pertained to goals achievement. Some months back I was
listening to Joel Osteen one evening who was talking about a goals study that
had been conducted by Princeton University several decades ago. The research
team had surveyed the graduating class to find out how many of the graduates
actually had “written” goals for their life.
Only a mere 3% of these esteemed college
graduates actually had written goals for what they wanted to achieve with their
lives. After tracking the graduating class over a period of twenty years, what
the researchers learned was that the three percent of the graduates who had
written goals at the time of their graduation had:
Higher
earnings.
Greater
wealth.
More
friends.
A
lower divorce rate.
Greater
work-life balance.
More
happiness.
While I can’t speak for you… from my
perspective, these six life factors translate into one all important thing…
“success”.
In case you’re interested, the reason “why”
this is so important in present day January 2015 is the fact that the
conclusion of the University of Scranton’s more recent research was that “People who explicitly make resolutions are
10 times more likely to attain their goals that people who don’t explicitly
make resolutions.”
The good news is that your New Year is still
brand spanking new, so if you haven’t chosen a meaningful resolution (goal) for
this year and you want a real shot of increasing your chances tenfold for achieving meaningful success
in 2015… Then allow me the privilege of helping you to make a sound decision.
Here’s the important question that you need to
answer… “What is the one thing in your
life that absolutely has to change?” No fudging allowed. You know exactly
what it is. Now go write it down on paper and then write out a real plan to
achieve it.
Lastly, ask yourself one more question… “What is the consequence that you will have
to live with (maybe forever) if you don’t change it?”
I often share the following original quote from
my book during workshops and events… “Success
is out there for the taking… If you are willing to do what it takes.”
Here’s to your every success in 2015 and beyond!
Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank,
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