Goal Setting
Millions of Americans get themselves geared up for the New Year and all of the promises and excitement of starting fresh. It is said that 71% of all people will make resolutions for the New Year.

But making a resolution is one thing – keeping it’s another! There are some that say that many of the goals or resolutions set each year never get met because people tend to set their resolutions based on the negatives in their lives, not the positives. It’s easy to see how this is true when you take a look at the top four resolutions that people make. All of the resolutions listed below focus on the things we are not happy with about ourselves or how we are living.

1. Exercise more
2. Eat better
3. Be more conscientious at work
4. Stop drinking / smoking

If setting goals or resolutions is important to you, there’s good news. There are things that you can do to improve the way you set your goals as well as increase the likelihood of achieving them.

1. The key to success is proper PLANNING. It is important to sit down and really spend some time deciding what it is that is important to you and what you want to achieve in the coming year. Throwing out a handful of wishes around the dinner table while dining with friends does not qualify as proper planning. It doesn’t mean that you need to take a week off to meditate, but it does mean that you need to spend some quality time with yourself and your family to really determine what is important to you and what would make you happy in the coming year.
2. FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE is also a key ingredient. The last thing you want to do is make a list that constantly reminds you of what you aren’t doing. If getting a better handle on your debt is your goal, don’t list “getting out of debt” as your actual goal. You don’t want to see the word “debt” every time you review your goals. Your goal should be worded to capture the benefits of achievement not the negatives of failure.
3. Don’t be vague when it comes to setting your goals, BE SPECIFIC. The more specific your goals the easier it will be for you to measure, break-down and track your progress.
4. SCHEDULE IT! Writing down your goals and thinking about them isn’t good enough! That is one of the biggest pitfalls with New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, most things don’t happen just because you want them to. That is why planning ahead is so pertinent. When you sit down before the year begins to develop a list of resolutions or goals you can also earmark dates and times in the coming year to accomplish these goals.
5. BREAK YOUR GOALS DOWN into a series of smaller, more easily reached goals. There will be a series of things that can and should be done to achieve your ultimate goal – each of these things will become your “mini” goals. Smaller goals are easier to achieve and this will give you a series of smaller successes along the way. These smaller successes will give you the positive reinforcement you need to keep going.
6. Even if you did all of the steps above, you wouldn’t be finished! TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS is another key ingredient to successful goal setting. Just like you planned dates and times to work on your goals in step four, you also need to schedule evaluation dates as well. Each of these evaluation dates will give you the opportunity to see where you are making progress and what isn’t working. You will be able to re-evaluate where you are, where you need to be and what changes need to be made to get you back on track.

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Clear Surface Clutter
One of the biggest obstacles to a thorough cleaning is surface clutter. Think of all of the things you have on one bookshelf and imagine having to take them all off of the shelf to dust each individually and dust the shelf.

How much quicker and easier would it be if you only had items that you really loved on that shelf?? Not only does it make your home easier to maintain, it makes your environment less chaotic and your space more pleasant.

Keep Things Off of the Floor
Unless absolutely necessary, keep things off of the floor! It is amazing how cluttered and claustrophobic a space can feel just because you have items littering the floor.

Test it for yourself. Go to a closet or perhaps even your pantry. Remove everything from the floor and take another look. You will be amazed how much more open the space will feel.

Just Let it Go!
Don’t keep things just because you have space for them. Don’t keep things just because they cost too much. Don’t keep things just because someone special gave it to you. Don’t keep things just in case you may need them some day.

Watch the reasons you have for keeping things. They will start sounding familiar the more you ask the question.
I may need it one day…
I just need to fix this…
I am going to fit into this one day…
But I paid good money for it…
But my sister gave that to me….
If you don’t love it or need it – lose it!

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Break It Down
What ever the task, whatever the chore – break it down into manageable chunks. You may not always have the two or three hours required to start and finish a project, but you can certainly find 15-30 minutes every couple of days. If you take the approach that you can chip away at the project a little at a time you will be more constructive with your “free” time.

Tupperware
Tupperware represents one of the biggest problem areas in the kitchen.

• Use disposable plastic storage – it’s cheaper and you won’t feel guilty when pieces go missing.
• Minimize the amount you have – no one needs 30 pieces of Tupperware!
• When it starts looking nasty – lose it!
• Match tops and bottoms regularly and purge singles.

Dumping Grounds
Despite popular belief – your garage and your attic are not dumping grounds. If you don’t want something – get rid of it! Don’t make the item do a tour of duty in your garage or your attic.

Color Creates Chaos
When possible, keep your storage items similar and simple. The more color and patterns you have – the more chaotic things look.

Minimize Interruptions
Studies Show

• We are interrupted every 11 minutes
• Takes us 25 minutes to get back into the project
• 40% of the time we don’t go back to the same project

Don’t check emails, don’t take phone calls, shut your door and turn the TV off when trying to accomplish tasks or projects.

Indecision
One of the biggest contributors to clutter is indecision.

• Where should I put this?
• Am I going to attend this?
• I think I want to order this?
• Maybe I’ll donate to them.

Decide to Decide

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The Small Stuff
Don’t struggle over the small stuff. If you don’t use it, don’t like it, if it is broken or doesn’t fit – don’t think twice. Throw it out! Most of the things you are struggling with are items that can be replaced efficiently and inexpensively should you find you need them in the future!

It is completely freeing to let go of the things in your life that do not bring you joy, the things in your life that have no purpose right here and now, the things that cost you more in space, time and energy than they are worth!

Make a “To Do List”
One of the best tools available to help you get a handle on your home, work and life a – “Things To Do” list

You can’t just make the list and forget about it – you have to use it, refer to it, cross things off, put things on. It has to be a working tool!

All items on your list will be need to be scheduled on your planner. You will never do them if you don’t schedule the time.

Delegate
Just like you delegate projects at work to other employees, team members or subordinates you can take this same approach with the home chores.

If you feel you have a pretty good handle on the daily and weekly stuff maybe you just need to hire a cleaning crew to come in once a quarter to help you with the bigger projects. Or maybe you pick a weekend and have your entire family pitch in to tackle some of the chores. You may love to clean, but hate to grocery shop or run errands, hire a high school student to do those tasks for you while you turn up your iPod and get busy cleaning the bathrooms!

Your time is valuable and should be spent doing the things that you are good at doing and the things you love to do. Everything else is up for discussion. If it doesn’t make you happy and you can find an alternative way to complete the task that is both efficient and produces desirable results – don’t waste your time or energy, delegate!
Wishing you a year of much success!

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