My New Year's Resolution For This Upcoming Year (And 4-Common Sense Steps To Achieve It).
I used to go to the gym in January, just like every other month. BUT, in January the gym was always packed... folks were shoulder to shoulder doing cardio.
By February, the gym was back to normal.
I remember saying 15 years ago," I'm never going to make New Year's Resolutions, and I'm definitely never ever going to stop working out!"
15 years later...
The thing is I'm not worried about my weight; in fact, I am confident enough to take my shirt off in public to the horror of 20-something-year-olds.
After 15 years I did, however, break down and commit to a resolution: get out of training youth speakers, and into training entrepreneurs and professionals at big events.
Now, it just so happens that I spent the last two months of 2022 getting mentored and planning a 90-day action plan for my business. I have the roadmap written out on my office wall. here is the proof:
AND, it just so happens the start date of my plan falls on...
This year hits differently. I'm not doing the SMART goal thing, but I do have a 4-step plan.
Step 1: Set A Specific Intention/goal/vision. What Do You Want to Achieve?
I had a friend in college and his intention was to be successful in all areas of life; health, wealth, relationships, and spirituality.
In college, my friend wrote out daily goals (a schedule), and monthly and yearly goals, and I'm pretty sure he planned out today, 20 years ago. At the end of every year, my friend (still to this day) reassesses his goals.
The thing about this friend, Scotty, is that he went to school while running an eBay business out of his parent's basement. Students around him were struggling with jobs and exams... Scotty was getting straight A's, and giving me cool clothes as we cruised around in his hummer. Students struggled with body image and stress. Scotty was, and still is the fittest person in any room.
Scotty has the intention and ambition to keep moving forward.
Fun Fact about ambition: as you fail and flounder through your life and business and whatever else you have to go through, you'll NEVER GIVE UP.
I'm a little different than Scotty, but my goal is simple: get out of training youth speakers and into training entrepreneurs and professionals at big events.
Now, I'll do whatever it takes to achieve my goal, even if that requires making a schedule!
Like I always tell students, "You'll never meet an Olympic medalist who didn't dream about winning that medal the entire time they were training. A gold medal is the end result for Olympians, it keeps them going through the tough times and the good."
Then I ask students, "What gold medal are you dreaming about winning?"
Most have no idea.
Step 2 Research and Development
Research is easy; however, it claims many victims because it can be overwhelming.
The easiest way to research is to find somebody doing exactly what you want and learn from them; called mentorship.
If you're like me and unsure of who you want to model then you can DIY research and development through trial and error. My dad calls it learning the hard way.
3 research tips:
- Get a study buddy (I don't do this, but if you can't work alone then I would do whatever it takes).
- Don't do it all at once as that's overwhelming (unless you need results today. In that case you're already overwhelmed; work through it).
- Keep track of the important stuff (at first everything seems important).
Development is the hard part. I've spent years developing products that got abandoned. I took one year off work to write a book that I never published. I spent another year writing hypnosis programs but I only made 3 sales.
The bottom line is that you need a product, and people to buy it.
There are two ways to "get" products: Person A develops the product, and person B sell's somebody else's product.
Which person are you?
Avoid being person C; the person with nothing to sell.
Step 3. Execute
Let's be clear: execution without R&D will lead to being the person who quits the gym in February.
Without R&D you don't have a reason to stick it out. Like, why are you eating these specific foods, and what exactly is happening in your body at the gym?
If you haven't done your research then you'll go through a long period with no results, and give up. It wasn't working anyway.
But I'm not here to talk about fitness.
When it comes to public speaking I know all about my competition and the industry. I know what the other coaches are doing. I know what programs are out there, and I KNOW that my product is dialled in because I've been executing my research and developing my techniques on live audiences for years.
Step 4: Everything Happens For A Reason
This is the mantra my wife drilled into me. If something bad happens I swear a lot, shit, fuck, ass, BUT everything happens for a reason. Next thing you know you're looking for that reason.
Then something god-awful happens; BUT, everything happens for a reason. Look for that reason.
Finally, something good happens and it makes sense, everything happens for a reason.
Everything happens for a reason.
It's a simple mantra (you should say it out loud a couple of times right now), but if you believe it then you'll never get hung up on failure, get depressed about your situation, or develop an unnecessary ego.
There we have it, it's really only 3 simple steps and everything happens for a reason.
The big takeaway is to stop wasting time and start taking action.
A recap of those 4 steps:
Step 1. Set a specific intention. What do you want to achieve?
Step 2 Research and development
Step 3. Execution
Step 4. Everything Happens For A Reason
Let's gooooooooo,
Have a great and wonderful day,
Devin