OK, want to make it a Thanksgiving to remember?
Want to add value for the whole family? After the meal, perhaps over dessert and coffee, go around the table asking each person to discuss one New Years Resolution they made last year and the status of it today.
Yes, many will hide, turn red, and some will be mad you put them on the spot. Fine. Perfect. If they come to your table next year, they will be prepared. Yes, you will be helping all at your table. They will get more done next year and have something to be proud of. Otherwise, they may not show up.
The next issue for table discussion is how to guarantee success or failure. For success, you need to follow the directions below. For failure, don't do them. Do what you have always done when you have failed, and you will surely fail again.
Let's try success. We have nothing to lose and all to gain. For success in any resolution we need to:
Put it in writing. Exactly what we will do and by what date.
Why? We need a written description of why we are going to do it, and why it is so important to us. If the why is strong enough, we will persevere when the going gets tough. If the why not is stronger than the why, we won't succeed. We'll stop at the first bump in the road. Make a strong why.
Involve others. Alone, success is less likely. With support from others, success comes more easily. Include those who can help you.
Create pressure for yourself from a coach, a peer, or a master mind group. You want someone or a group that will hold you accountable and will not accept weak excuses. You need to be held accountable.
PLAN. You need a plan. What you will do when, or by when. The plan should include the tools and the people you will need. The plan is the chart, the roadmap to success.
Start with the successful end in mind and build the steps to accomplish it. The steps need to be written in advance and then you need only follow the plan and modify it as needed in the process.
Next year can be your best year yet and the best year for all at your table. It can be the year everyone sitting at your Thanksgiving table can glow and be proud. Show them the steps.
Help them yourself, or help them to find someone to help them. We are not in this alone. We all need coaches, guides, and mentors. Be one and get one. It's the best gift you can give anyone.
Resolutions, be they New Year's or at any time, can succeed if you take the steps above. If not, success is less likely, but still possible. If you've missed resolutions over the years, try this plan. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
