Want a better-than-ever start to this year? Watch the video below (or read the blog below it) and set yourself up for a 2017 Work-Life Recharge that will help live energetically, do work you love and get the most out of life!

Hey, Michelle Cederberg here with an end-of-year dose of energy and inspiration. Got New Year’s plans? Well I hope they don’t include resolutions. They don’t work!

Well they don’t. Depending on which research you read, about 45% of us make new year’s resolutions. Within 2 weeks 29% of us have abandoned them. By the end of January 46%. And by 6 months a whopping 64% of us are back to business as usual.

Maybe the 55% of you who poo poo resolutions are the smart ones, since by year end a mere 8% of resolvers actually become achievers.

In other words, resolutions are just a bad bet in the “lottery of life”.

And really, why would you want to break the holiday bliss so abruptly with a painful dissection of all the things you failed at last year, or you’re failing at right now, or that you need to change, or that “someone” thinks you should change?

We make resolutions as a way of motivating ourselves. Perhaps to temporarily convince ourselves we aspire to move beyond our bad habits? And I know we all want to move beyond our bad habits, but we don’t necessarily want to do the work. In fact, when it comes to resolutions we’re unrealistic and too vague, our time management skills suck, and we approach things with the wrong mindset. It’s a miracle even the 8% make it!

But you want to make it and I want to help!

So here’s what we’re gonna do.

• Focus on one big goal at a time. You may have a lot of things you want to change but if you tackle them all at once you’ll fail at all of them. And be clear and specific about that goal … (my main stretch goal is to make a video every week in 2017…and that will feed my smaller goals.)

• Choose a goal that excites you (and scares you a bit). Nothing truly amazing comes out of ‘easy’, and you can bet that a lot of crazy good will come out of something you’re excited to tackle every day!
• Keep your goal front of mind. Visibility aids accountability. Write down your goal and put it where you can see it EVERY DAY. Only 10 per cent of verbal information gets retained, versus 65 per cent of visual info!

Post motivations in your office, carry a reminder with you. Write it in your calendar and on your daily to do’s. Make them truly unforgettable.

• Toss out the calendar. Start now. Not January 1^st, not on Monday. What’s one thing you can do today, right now towards your goal. RIGHT NOW! Then keep the goal alive with regular, small steps. Every day.

• Say YES to accountability. To really light a fire under your butt, make a public declaration of your amazing plans. Tell people. Tell lots of them. Success can be the only option. And for a double-whammy of accountability, find a buddy with the same goal. You’ll keep each other going through the highs and lows. That’s a winning combo!

• Celebrate the victories along the way! Milestones matter. When you celebrate the large and small wins it’ll make the journey less daunting, and a hell of a lot more fun

And finally,

• Remember, what got you here won’t get you there. Embrace new behaviours and attitudes. Try new things. Do things differently. In fact, this year different might just be that we DO the freaking work instead of just talking about it!

Here’s the truth…we want what the work will give us (Smaller waistline, bigger bank account, better health, better business) but we want it to come easily.

We live in an instant gratification society looking for a quick fix to the problems that took months or years to generate. We’ve been gaining weight for years but we want it off in days. We’ve been swimming in debt since graduation, but we want it gone [snap fingers]…like that!

It’s not that easy! Real change requires work, and all the good stuff happens outside your comfort zone. So get uncomfortable…or nothing will change.

Let’s do this! I know you want more…to be better. I know you want this to be your best year yet. You’re that kind of amazing, driven Rockstar (And you’ve got this!)

Set that goal, start NOW and come January 1 you’ll already have something to celebrate!

Until next week, I’m Michelle Cederberg, ready to help you RECHARGE your work and life.