Resolutions!

Excellent reflection on resolutions posted by Anthony Iannarino found at:

 http://thesalesblog.com/?s=+I+Have+a+Better+Idea+Than+Resolutions+for+2013%3A

“Resolutions don’t contain enough power by themselves to work. Resolution requires action. That’s why there’s something more effective than simply making another list of resolutions you have little chance of keeping. I call it THE DAILY DISCIPLINES LIST.

What you might do instead of making another list of New Year’s resolutions is to write down all of the activities that you need to take daily to reach the outcome that would’ve made up your New Year’s resolutions. By taking the daily disciplined actions each and every day, you ensure that you reach the goal that would have made up your New Year’s resolution.

ACTION! ACTION! ACTION!

You know the old saying, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions?” That statement has stuck around so long because it’s true. Intentions don’t amount to a hill of beans. What’s necessary to reach your goals, whatever they may be, is action. The daily disciplines list is all about action!

Here’s an example from my life. For a long time I’ve wanted to lose weight. I had every intention of losing weight. But in September, I decided to adopt a new lifestyle as it pertained to my diet (I am a closet anti-aging guy). So I did some research and adopted the Paleo diet (you can Google that if you want to lose weight and still enjoy eating). That meant adopting new daily disciplines for me.

It meant instead of having a chocolate banana smoothie at Starbucks, I had a banana, or an orange, or an apple. It meant instead of eating whatever I wanted for lunch, I had either a salad with salmon, a salad with chicken, or a salad with steak. One of the easiest ways to do this is to go to Chipotle and get their salad bowl leaving out the rice and beans. And the cheese. And the sour cream. And the Coke. For dinner, I’ve simply been eating lean meat and vegetables.

Oh, and the most difficult of all of the disciplines this required of me was weekly grocery shopping so I’d have the food I needed around me when I needed it. I spent $350 on my first trip to the grocery store. But I am learning to shop.

It wasn’t the focus on my weight or my intentions that produced any result. It was the simple, continuous, daily disciplines that have resulted in 32 pounds lost in about 3 months. Easiest thing I’ve ever done.

MY LISTS

I keep a number of discipline lists. I keep one for daily disciplines, the things that I have to do each and every day to be the best version of me that I can possibly be.

I have a weekly disciplines list, because some disciplines don’t need to be done every day but they do need serious routine maintenance.  A lot of those are investments in the people that make up my some of my teams.

And I have a monthly disciplines list. The monthly disciplines list is for the activities they just need to be done with some frequency, but that aren’t a lot of fun (for some you this may be invoicing, or something like that).

If you read the blog, then you know one of my daily disciplines is rising at 5 AM to write a blog post each and every day. By adopting the simple daily discipline of writing 500 words, I have easily laid out the structure for at least three books, the first of which I owe to my Editor on January 1, 2013. This newsletter is also a weekly discipline for me.

MAKE YOUR LISTS

What belongs on your daily discipline list? What are the little disciplines that you need to keep each day that move you forward on what would have made up your resolutions? Instead of making one broad resolution, it’s more effective to resolve to keep all of the smaller daily disciplines. These daily disciplines will produce a bigger outcome then your intentions written on a piece of paper now 12 months old. Isn’t that true for you?

What belongs on your weekly discipline list? What are the routine tasks that you have to take each and every week to keep you tracking toward your major goals? Maybe a better question here might be “who” belongs on your weekly discipline list? What relationships do you need to make frequent deposits in order to keep all of your major goals on track?

What about monthly or quarterly? What are the disciplines that need to be taken less frequently but still just as religiously?

Play with these questions. Make up some of your own. Develop a daily, weekly, monthly, and maybe quarterly discipline list. Look at all the disciplines that you’ve written down. Would keeping these disciplines dramatically change the results that you’re producing now? I’m 100% confident they will.”

Anthony has a newsletter that I get regularly. What you read above was one of those.  If you thought this was helpful please sign up or forward the link below to someone else.  It will arrive in your inbox each Sunday after signing up at this link: https://es976.infusionsoft.com/app/form/the-sales-blog-newsletter.”