How I Rocked My 2011 Goals and Plan On Taking 2012 By Storm. On Goal Setting.

I’m as excited for this week as were all the kids waiting on Santa last week. This week, I’m going to sit down and come up with a handful of goals for the next week. I’m going to list off several, narrow it down and then map out what I need to do for each goal. These resolutions will guide me through the next year.

I learned an important, life changing lesson last year. When you really set your mind to something and work on it little by little, reaching your goals is possible. It just takes nearly daily dedication, and more preparation than I previously imagined.

Last year, I kept my New Year’s resolution. I also reached a goal I’d set the previous year, to make sure that every baby born in Indiana is screened with pulse oximetry for congenital heart defects. Some goals take more than a year.

My New Year’s resolution from last year might seem simple to some of you, but for my fellow Diet Coke drinkers, you’ll get it. That’s right, I completely gave up Diet Coke after a nearly 12 pack a day habit for about 10 years. I drank my last one on New Year’s Eve, had a few weeks of headaches and general malaise, and never looked back after years of trying to quit. I’m sharing what I learned from that experience and through my experience working on screening for CHD in my home state, Indiana.

I know this post doesn’t directly relate to writing and publishing, but I thought it would be a huge help to anyone hoping to enter that world. Just take the advice and try it with some of your writing goals.

Phase One: Preparation

Before when I set goals, I skipped over this part. Quitting Diet Coke, well you just stop drinking it, that easy, right? Trying to start a career writing your own blog? Just start a blog, duh. Not so much. This has been the most important step in any successful goal I’ve had.

For stopping Diet Coke, those other times I quit were a nice trial run. Also helpful was to look up what to expect as far as symptoms and the withdraw process. I also calculated how much money I’d saved and look up the health ramifications of Diet Coke.

I spent nearly a year in the preparation phase for getting pulse oximetry screening into law in Indiana. I researched, researched and even talked face-to-face with clinicians working on this in Washington D.C. It was all this ground work (some of it done by others, a key to all of this was linking up with others working on something similar) that I believe made me successful.

The preparation phase will vary in length depending on the goal and complexity, but don’t skip this phase no matter how small the goal.

Phase Two: Find People That Share Your Goal/Gather Support

This related and overlaps with the preparing phase. But you’ll find reaching your goal oh so much easier if you can split up the work, as was the case with pulse ox, or get support, like for my Diet Coke drinking. My husband and family were so supportive. I made sure they knew I was serious this time and not to offer any of it to me. I also make sure they knew not to joke around about it, at first. While it might sound like not a big deal, I was totally a Diet Coke junkie and firmly believe it was affecting my health.

If you need other people to reach your goal, like with getting every baby screened with pulse ox, start spreading word, finding like minded people and speaking out.

You’ll of course continue to research throughout the process. This should hopefully be made easier by the seeds you planted at the start of your goal planning. It looks like I do a zillion things related to CHD, but they all interplay and overlap, so it’s not as much work as it seems, leaving me a bit of time to work on other things and look after my family.

Phase Three: Consistent Work

So you’ve got people on your side. You’ve done tons of work. You’re probably made good head way. It’s easy to sit back and think that you can put everything on to auto pilot at this point. It’s not the case.

Make a commitment to work on the goal every day, every week or every month, depending on how important the goal is to you. Of course almost universally, the more time and effort you put into something the better the results. While quitting Diet Coke might seem like a do it and a forget it type of deal, I constantly have to remind myself why I quit, and why just having one is not a good idea.

Phase Four: Go Big

When your completing your goal, almost completing or just crossing the finish line, totally go for it. Tell the world, if you want to share. Finish strong and celebrate! Build on your work, and enjoy. You deserve it.

So I’m not an inspirational speaker or some life coach guru person, but I am someone that’s found positive change through changing the way I do things, and with the phenomenal success I had last year, I’m so excited for this week, my goal and resolution setting week. You might wonder why I didn’t share my goals, it’s because as I explained above, I haven’t firmed them up. I’ll let you know when I feel comfortable enough to share.

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