Thanksgiving is behind us, then follows the festivities of Christmas and then the New Year is upon us very quickly. We eat and drink too much and say to ourselves that in 2014 we will set the goal of going to the gym once or twice per week. We make the first list of resolutions early January and re-write them in February. In March all goals are forgotten and we say to ourselves, ‘What resolutions?’

We are all the same. I also set my goals for 2013 but this year I had an accountability partner to help me. I wrote the 2013 goals down, placed them in an envelope and addressed the envelope to myself. I was very proud of myself, my accountability partner then said he would post my self-addressed envelope to my home in early 2014 and I should then compare my goals to my achievements. I had found the perfect solution to keep myself accountable however…

I then realized that one of my goals was to sell my house and relocate to another part of the city! I had to ask for my self-addressed envelope back and re-write the address. This time I used my parent’s address because I did not know where I would end up living. This was the first time I had used this idea. I found it very effective, I copied my goals on a separate piece of paper and I have tracked them all year. My accountability partner’s job is only to post the letter back to my address, he does not know what goals I have set and he does not really care. His role is to post the envelope back to me and my role is to keep the promises I have made to myself.

Try this technique in 2014. Write your goals down, place in an envelope and ask your friend to send the envelope back in one year’s time. It is very effective.

During a recent training course by www.jillsaville.com , Martine Neyen made this comment, “Now Big Brother is Inside You!” We do not need an external influence like our parents, manager, work supervisor or partner to ensure we keep our commitments. Now big brother is inside of us and it is our responsibility to keep these commitments, although we oftentimes need assistance to follow through.

Your task now is to prepare your goals for 2014. Write them down and place them in a self-addressed envelope. Place a stamp on the envelope then find an accountability partner and ask them to post this back to you in early 2015. The only responsibility they have is not to lose the envelope!

Lets gets started…

Stuart

Making Steps and Leaving Footprints…