Happy New Year!!!  Wishing you a successful, healthy and happy 2014!

As I sit here on the first day of the work year, I’m excited about the promise and possibility that this year holds.  I spoke to my dad yesterday morning and he asked me if I was excited about this particular New Year and I didn’t think I was.  To me, every day of the year holds promise and new possibilities.  But as the day grew long, my dad’s question competed for attention.

There are some exciting changes coming in my personal life in the next 30 days (29 more sleeps to be exact!) and as I start to plan for them, I realize that I need to break down my goal into smaller, more achievable steps that I know I can accomplish without getting overwhelmed.  And I realized that yes… I am excited about the beginning of this particular year.  I have something really important and exciting to look forward to in my personal life.

Being the nut that I am, I decided to give myself something really important and exciting to look forward to in my professional life as well.  So I created a BIG GOAL for myself.

Your Success Depends On Where You Set The Bar

I read an article a few years back about goal setting and high jumping.  I don’t remember the author but he was a State Champion in the High Jump.  Like most sports, the high jump is a mental game.  They start by setting the bar low and increase it after every jump.  While I’m not sure of the exact reason why the competition is set up that way, I imagine that it helps the athlete establish a mindset of success.  If the bar is set at a height that he or she already knows they can jump, they won’t get psyched out having to approach a bar that’s much higher than they’ve ever jumped before.  With each jump, the jumper builds confidence and can tweak their approach to the bar.

The same principle can be applied to goal setting – whether in sports, your professional life or your personal life.  Scale your big goal down into smaller, more achievable steps that you know you can accomplish easily and without fear.  Then as your confidence build and you gain traction towards the fulfillment of your goal, you can set higher and higher goals.

Go For The Gold in 2014!

Every great accomplishment is a result of what people do on a daily basis.  The events of any given day may not seem to make much of a difference but each step you take is a step closer or further away from your goals.  It’s important to keep moving forward.  Set a few important goals, establish a game plan and commit to seeing your goals through to the end.

And be sure to build in some small rewards or incentives to keep you striving for the Gold!  As you achieve each goal and celebrate with your reward, you will feel more motivated to keep moving forward because you know you have another great reward waiting for you.

As you sit down at the start of this brand new year to write down your plans, remember this:

Any goal worth achieving should push you to grow into the person you must become in order to accomplish it.

As yourself: what kind of person do you want to be?  What will it take to become that person?  You have it in you to become any greater version of yourself that you want to be, and at the end of it all, that is what will matter most – who did you become?

So dream big!!  Then take that dream and break it down into smaller steps with rewards along the way. And then each and every day, take one small step towards that goal.  At the end of the year, you will look back at all that you have accomplished and be amazed that YOU made it all happen!

Imagine how fantastic it will feel at the end of 2014 knowing that YOU have become the person you wanted to become, and it all began with a big dream and setting the bar at an achievable height for your first run then raising it inch by inch.

Life is a mental game and the way you play the game will determine your outcome.  All you have to do is decide to take that first leap!

Happy New Year!