From Jim Collins, author of Good to Great
motivation
I traveled to my alma mater, The Ohio State University, this past weekend for The 8th Floor Improv‘s annual alumni show. Going back to ground zero of my comedy career and meeting with my fellow alums and current members was amazingly fun and incredibly inspirational.
Sometimes going back and remembering the successes we’ve had in the past can be the inspiration and motivation we need for succeeding in the future. Those positive memories remind us that all the hard work, long hours and stressful moments are worth it–they lead to the moments that we never forget and will reminisce about for years.
So if you’re in need of some inspiration, get nostalgic. Think back to some of your first wins in whatever it is your doing and how it felt to achieve them. Then pick up the hustle so you can create more memories to come back to.
Thanks 8th Floor for the boost.
photo by biewoef
Every year, over 100 million Americans make a New Year’s Resolution; only 18% of those people will actually keep it. If less than 1/5th of the people that make a resolution actually keep them, why even bother coming up with a new goal to start working on the first of year? We’ll get to that, but first…
Why New Year’s Resolutions Suck
New Year’s Resolutions have a number of things working against them, but it comes down to three main reasons of Suck.
Reason of Suck #1 – Procrastination
The big problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that we wait until the “magical” date of the first of the year to start them. You might think in October, “you know, I should start exercising,” but then think, “oh, well I’ll just wait till the New Year and start off fresh.”
This is just a way of procrastinating. Why not start working on the new goal when you first start thinking about it? January 1st is just another day on the calendar, yet we wait for it to come to do things we could start doing today.
Reason of Suck #2 – Lack of Preparation
The second reason New Year’s Resolutions suck is that we push off even starting on our resolution till the first of the year. The problem is that if you want to actually succeed at your goal, you’ll need to do some planning. Research tips on your new goal, read about success stories of other people, find like-minded people that can keep you committed.
Waiting until the day you want to make a change to even create a plan on how to make the change is what lands you in the 82% of people who don’t make it.
Reason of Suck #3 – Intimidation/De-motivation
The final reason New Year’s Resolutions suck is that they are too intimidating. Generally, when we set a goal at the beginning of the year, it’s for the entire year. We assume that we can go from behaving one way (such as smoking) on one day, to then behaving another way (not smoking) the next. And we think we will behave the new way forever.
Thinking about making a change for the rest of your life is intimidating; it’s daunting and scary. Plus when we mess up, it becomes de-motivating (“I’ll never learn to eat the right number of fruits and vegetables every day.”) Instead, think in smaller chunks. First try to work on your resolution for just a week, or 30 days. Then link those weeks together and you’ll eventually get to that full year with the new behavior.
Why You Should Make Them Anyway
So if New Year’s Resolutions suck, why even make them? Because they’re better than nothing. They’re better than sitting around and accepting the status quo. If the change of the new year is what motivates you to do something, then take advantage of it and do it.
Because even if you don’t succeed at never hitting snooze again in your life, you’ll do better than if you never set the goal to begin with. And that’s why you make a New Year’s Resolution.
How to Improve Your Chances of Success
So now that you know some of the pitfalls of New Year’s Resolutions, but why you should make them anyway, you may want to get some help so you can be one of the successful ones. For some articles with helpful tips, check out:
- Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions
- How to Make Those New Year’s Resolutions Stick
- 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior
- 30 Days to Success
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photo by falconaxe
Motivation can be hard to find at times, so when you find you are in need of being motivated, check out some of these links.
Note: This is part of the What I Learned on the Internet Series.
- Find the Peak - Accomplish more by working at your peak times of day.
- Be Worthy of Remark - Make the decision to be remarkable.
- Be Excuse Free - Accept no excuses when trying to get something done.
- Don’t Think Big - Get started by following the little rules.
- Future Think - Ask yourself, “what will I remember when I am 90?“
- Get Scientific – Understand the science of motivation.
- Find Your Trigger - Identify what motivates and de-motivates you.
Find the Peak:
