How to Make Successful New Year’s Resolutions
John Di Lemme

As 2011 rolls around and we prepare for a new year, the habit of making New Year’s resolutions comes to the forefront. This past week, I asked my students to list what they believe to be the top three New Year resolutions for society in general. To no surprise, the top three were lose weight, get out of debt and work out more. While the intentions behind the resolutions are good, the likelihood that the resolutions will be achieved is not so great.

According to general statistics, approximately 45% of adult Americans make New Year resolutions every year. Unfortunately, about 97% of the resolutions are never completely fulfilled. Why? Most resolutions are unrealistic and there is no action behind the resolution. Someone can say that they want to get out of debt all day long, but if they continue to go on shopping sprees, then it is not going to happen. Similarly, a person can say that they are going to lose weight, but if they don’t exercise and continue to eat junk, then no change will occur.

The base word of resolution is resolute, which means firmly resolved. So basically when you set New Year’s resolutions, you are saying that losing weight, getting out of debt, etc. will be firmly resolved within the next twelve months. You aren’t saying how it will be fully resolved or what commitment you will make to fully resolve the issue. It’s like a building with no foundation. It will eventually crumble, because there’s nothing holding it up. There’s no commitment or action behind the resolution. Furthermore, most of the things that you are saying will be fully resolved took you longer than twelve months to create so why limit yourself to fully resolving those things in a twelve month window.

Instead of making resolutions that you will likely not achieve, set goals with a detailed list of action steps that will assist you in successfully achieving those goals. Here are some examples for you:

Goal: Lose weight and exercise more
Action Steps: Join gym, exercise 3x per week, eat more fruits/veggies, throw out all junk food in the house

Goal: Spend more time with family
Action Steps: Make a date with your family every week and do something special. (special does not mean costly)

Goal: Increase personal development time
Action Steps: Schedule at least fifteen minutes per day for reading an inspirational book, listening to motivational CDs, etc. Increase the amount of time after committing to the fifteen minutes per day and making it one of your daily habits.

Now, doesn’t that make more sense than simply making a New Year’s resolution and never achieving it? Someone once said, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” Your goals and dreams are worth more than that, right? Stop treating them like a trend that in one day and out the next. Make a commitment to yourself and take the daily action needed to achieve your goals and dreams. Now, that’s a real reason to put on the party hats, blow the whistles and scream Happy New Year!

© John Di Lemme
www.LifestyleFreedomClub.com

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10 Life Lessons On How To Find Your Why NOW & Achieve Ultimate Success – Lesson 3 (part 4)

A few weeks later as they were driving home, they saw smoke rising from the landscape. As they drove closer to their neighborhood, they realized the smoke was billowing up from their property. Their house was consumed by flames and burned to the ground. A few nights later after they had settled into temporary housing, car lights appeared in their driveway. A friend walked to the front door carrying the gift that this young couple had presented to him a few weeks earlier. During the next few days, a steady stream of cars came to their home returning nearly every item they had given away. Years later, the husband said a very profound thing, “We learned at any early age that you can only keep what you give away. Today, we once again treasure my grandmother’s painting. It only hangs in our home because we once gave it away.” That is so true. If we hoard our treasures, then they shrivel and disappear. If we give them away, then they return to us. Learn to create the daily habit of giving, and at the conclusion of your day ask yourself, “What did I do today? What seed did I plant today in order to predict my future?”

Remember, whatsoever you sow you shall reap. I want to ask you a bold and provocative question: “If you sow nothing, then how can you have the audacity to expect something in return?” That would be like not planting any seeds in your field, but expecting a corn harvest. First comes the seed you plant and then comes your harvest. Never forget that. Plant something everyday! Do not end your day without giving something away whether it’s a smile, a big tip to a waitress, a dollar to a homeless man, a huge tithe to your church, etc. Give someone the opportunity to have their life changed by you being a better person.

Understand this: you are a uniquely privileged individual, because you are holding this book in your hand. Millions have lived and died without ever finding the secrets to success. That means you are 99.9% ahead of everyone who has ever lived. Be grateful for all that has flowed to you and from that gratitude bless others. Allow them to reap some of your blessings by developing the habit of giving. If you read about the truly wealthy entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller and Mary Kay Ash, you will see that in the end those Champions were giving away more than they earned, which means they started the process of giving early in their careers. When the famous Pastor W. A. Criswell of First Baptist Church of Dallas retired, he gave the church a check that was more than all the salary checks he had ever received. I challenge you to model your life after those great people by developing the habit of giving today.

10 Life Lessons On How To Find Your Why NOW & Achieve Ultimate Success – Lesson 3 (part 3)

Anyone Can Give
Some of you will say, “You know what John? I just can’t give right now because I have nothing to give.” You’re wrong. A smile is a gift. A handshake or an embrace is a gift. Being there with a shoulder to cry on is a gift. Being accountable to your business partner is a gift. Being a daily giver and planting seeds in the lives of others will change the face of your future.
Always remember, seasons come and seasons go, but seed time and harvest will not cease no matter what we do. Think of it this way. If you plant a seed in the summer, then you will reap its fruits in the fall. If you fail to plant a seed in the summer, then in the fall you will have no harvest. The great Jim Rohn says, “Everyone must be good at sowing in the spring or will be begging in the fall.” The habit of giving is like insurance for the achievement of your ultimate Why in life. For example, if you have a car accident then your insurance guarantees that your damages will be covered based on the amount that you provided in your policy. It’s the same with giving. Your habit of giving determines your level of success in your future; it is based on what you have given away. Many people think that they will wait until they are a multi-millionaire to give. That is not the way to start. The sad reality is that if you can’t bring yourself to give now, then you sure won’t make yourself give when you are financially secure and wealthy.

Remember, giving is an attitude; it is not based on the amount of money in your bank account. It’s a heart issue. That’s why I say that anyone can give. You Can Only Keep What You Give Away I heard an incredible true story that I want to pass on to you. A young couple had not been married very long when the husband began to feel a strong sense that they should give away their household possessions. Furniture. Appliances. Even wedding gifts. Everything! After a few days, he reluctantly shared his feelings with his young wife only to discover that she had a very strong sense of the same thing. She had been struggling with how to tell him.

Confident that God was directing them, they began the process of giving everything away. Within a few days, everything was gone. The husband recalls, “Even the original painting that my grandmother had painted, a family heirloom, was given away.” Although somewhat perplexed as they slept on the floor amidst nothing, they felt peace and assurance that they had done the right thing.

10 Life Lessons On How To Find Your Why NOW & Achieve Ultimate Success – Lesson 3 (part 2)

Here are a few ways you can start to cultivate this new habit:

•Donate your time to your favorite organization or a friend in need.
•Offer your wisdom to person that may be starting a new life for himself/herself.
•Smile and say hello to someone that looks like they really need something positive to happen to them.
•Take some of your old clothes that you never wear to the Salvation Army. Cook a hot meal for an elderly shut-in.
•Repair an automobile for someone that can’t afford the repairs.

I would say that the first rule of giving is very simple – give what you have. If you don’t have wealth, you may not be able to give money, but you can still be a giver. You can still cultivate the habit of giving.

First, give whatever you have been blessed with or whatever talent you have. You have to sow these seeds today in order to design your future. You design and predict your future by planting seeds in the lives of others. If you plant seeds of hope in others, then you will reap a bountiful harvest (a successful future). Of course, there’s a flip side to that. If you are selfish and only think of getting what you want out of life, then you will reap what you sow – selfishness. Your failure to plant seeds in the lives of others will result in nothing but dried up soil not to mention a very lonely and unfulfilled life. There’s nothing better than the feeling you have after you have blessed the life of another person. For instance, my wife and I decided five years ago not to give Christmas gifts to each other and even asked our family/friends not to give us Christmas gifts. Instead, we take the money that everyone would have spent on those gifts and provide a great Christmas for families in need. Christmas is our favorite time of the year not because of what we receive, but because of what we give away and the joy that our giving brings to others.

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