New Year's resolutions do NOT work

According to research performed by the Opinion Corporation and 24/7 Innovation in Dec 2008:
• 45% of people usually set New Year’s resolutions• 17% set resolutions infrequently, and
• 38% absolutely never set resolutions.

Of those that do set resolutions (these add to more than 100% as some people set multiple resolutions):
• 35% want to improve their finances
• 38% want to loose weight or exercise more
• 47% want to work on their personal development or education, and
• 31% want to improve their relationships.

The problem with all of this is the fact that unless you are a businessman or a really ambitious person, you don’t measure and or track your resolutions or goals.

Jaco Beukes of LEAP IN LIFE Coaching , a certified NLP practitioner and qualified Life Coach, says that “Resolutions are easily conjured in the mind, but unless you write it down and revisit it frequently, you won’t actually know if you are successful or not. You are simply day dreaming, speculating or engaging in a bit of wishful thinking.”

The turn of each year allows you the opportunity to reinvent yourself for the next year, if you would choose to do so. But by the end of January, 90% of people would be back in “default” mode again, reverting to their old habits and ways.

This happens for various reasons: laziness, fear of change, greed, effort required, ignorance, or disbelief that the change will really make a difference.

On this point, it is important to distinguish between goals and resolutions. Goals are specific, to the point, and with a fixed deadline and outcome. Resolutions tend to be more about intentions, nice-to-haves, and dreams .

To be successful, the outcome has to be measurable, specific and time-bound. This means that you really have to make changes. And most important, you have to be held accountable by someone.

In almost all businesses, organisations or professional teams, goals are set, tracked and reported on daily; the reason for this is that businesses recognise that you can only change what you can measure and review.

Jaco states that “This power to effectively change habits and behaviours, are accessible to individuals too. You simply need to:
• Set “S-M-A-R-T” (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) goals,
• Track it properly (It has to be written down)
• Frequently review your progress and performance, and
• Get someone to hold you accountable to your commitments!”

Jaco identified this need to give individuals a structured approach to set and track their goals, through his years of experience and working with and coaching individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds.

He therefore developed the “Gears of Life™” self-coaching systemand teamed up with online education and personal development company, Life School, to provide people with a free online version of the model.

The tool works in four easy steps:
1. Help the individual to become aware of his / her current situation
2. Assess the impact of their current direction in life
3. Set goals, and take effective action steps to achieve them, and
4. Record, track and review your progress on a regular basis.

The platform on which the Gears of Life ™is hosted, habittool.com , also contains other features such as online learning , a community forum and affiliate coaches to provide the necessary help, support and sense of accountability that the individual might require on his/her journey to achieve his/her goals.

New Year’s resolutions DO NOT work, unless you have a structured approach, the correct tools and support required. Fortunately, this is now available to everyone.