Look Back, Talk Aloud and Think ‘Why?’

It’s that time of year where the annual ritual of self-delusion reaches full swing, where dreams are dreamt, ambitions are articulated, and promises are made.  Yes folks, it is resolution time and we want to give you a couple of things to think about before you jump into the abyss of meaningless self-talk!

Firstly, look back and review the goals you have made in the past.  What has led to success? What have been the barriers to progress? The answer to the first question is often that there was an emotional attachment to the target.  You may answer the second question by thinking about the factors that are outlined in the pneumonic SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) and this is not a bad place to start. However, I would like to suggest that even if these SMART factors have been well thought through, success is ultimately going to be a matter of chance if no emotional attachment has been created.

Emotional attachment is simply a matter of answering the questions ‘why me?’ and ‘why now?’  It is a way of punctuating an ambition with personal purpose and meaning, and creates the glue between vision, mission and success.

Secondly, don’t be shy of telling someone important to you what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it.  Articulating both the goal and the emotional attachment has a multiplier effect when it comes to success rate.

So please do think of what you want to achieve and how you are going to do it, but as Simon Sinek wisely prompts, start with the question ‘Why?’