High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 9 Things Successful People Won't Do

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Career Boosting Resolutions to Make Right Now: "Define exactly what your ideal job and company would look like. Make sure that the choice you make fits with your current values and priorities."
• 6 Creativity Habits For People Who Think They're Not Creative: "The interaction with new people can bring perspectives never before considered and spur new ideas within the group."
• 9 Things Successful People Won't Do: "Emotionally intelligent people know that success lies in their ability to rise in the face of failure, and they can’t do this when they’re living in the past."
• 4 Important Ways to Look at Employee Well-Being 'Holistically": "Offering small breaks, especially during busy and stressful times, can keep employees focused without the added stress of being away from their work for long stretches of time."
• 10 Nonverbal Cues to Convey Confidence at Work: "When speaking to others, ideally look directly into their eyes at least two to three seconds before looking away or moving to the next person."

The Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail and What You Can do about it

So, here we are on day 5 of 2012. If you decided, like millions of people, to set a New Year’s resolution, I hope your new behavior changes are going well. In my previous two blog posts, we discussed the first 2 of 3 reasons why New Year’s resolutions often fail – as often as 77% according to a 2007 survey. The third and final reason can be the most challenging, which relates to our own failure to commit to changing our habits.

Reason #3 – You are not committed to your resolution and you don’t believe you can succeed

This reason is related to reason #1, if your resolution is centered on something for which you have no commitment, you will not succeed. Your resolution must have personal relevance and meaning to you. The only way to maintain your motivation beyond that initial burst of enthusiasm to become a long-term lifestyle or behavior change, is to find something that is very important to you.

Self control is very dynamic and changing. There is a saying that whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are right. It is easy to make excuses for ourselves – I can’t stop smoking because all my friends do it and they tempt me. When you are fully committed, and you believe you can succeed, nothing can get in your way.

The challenge for successfully upholding your New Year’s resolutions is three-fold:

> Find something that has meaning to you that you really want to change. Clarify to yourself the reason WHY you want to make this change.

> Make a measurable goal that includes a step-be-step plan. Also, build into the plan what you will do when you have a set-back and how you will re-motivate yourself to get back on-track.

> Believe in yourself and commit all your efforts and motivation to success!

The Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail and What You Can do about it

Happy New Year! Chances are, if you set a New Year’s resolution, you are now on day 3 of your resolution. I hope things are going well. Let’s examine the second reason that New Year’s resolutions often fail. In last week’s post, we discussed how people often lack the motivation they need. The second reason resolutions fail is due to a lack of clarity and lack of planning.

Reason #2 – Your resolution lacks clarity, focus, and realistic expectations

By nature, resolutions are often very vague and represent huge changes. According to a 2007 FranklinCovey survey, some of the most common resolutions are I am going to lose weight, I am going to exercise more, and I am going to get out of debt. These vague, grandiose goals are not only overwhelming, they can make coming up with an action plan an extremely difficult process.

The solution:

The best solution for this issue is to ensure you are setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. This is an acronym for setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, reaching and timely. When we have a plan and a strategy for how we will achieve our goals, they become much more manageable and therefore more easily attained. Let’s re-examine one of our vague goals from earlier – I am going to get out of debt.

The first step is to examine why you want to achieve this goal so you can find your motivation. Next, you apply the S.M.A.R.T. principles to the goal and it transforms into the following; I would like to pay off $6,000 in credit card debt by the end of 2012. I will reduce my monthly expenditures by $500 by lowering my cable bill, cutting out going out to eat every weekend and taking my lunch 4 days a week.

By creating a plan, you can break the goal into bite-sized chunks that enable you to monitor and measure your progress along the way. The specifics of the goal and the step-by-step planning will make your resolution seem less daunting and therefore more realistically attainable.

The Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail and What You Can do about it

With the upcoming new year, millions of people will set New Year’s resolutions, only to soon fail and go back to old habits. Instead of advising people about how to set better goals, I thought it would be better to look at what I think are the top 3 reasons people’s resolutions fail.

A FranklinCovey survey conducted in 2007 showed that 35% of respondents broke their resolutions by the end of January and 77% of respondents admitted to breaking their resolutions some time during the year. This is the first of 3 blog entries. Check back next year (also known as next week) to find out reasons 2 and 3 to ensure these are not the cause of your own downfall.

Reason #1 – Your resolutions are what you think you SHOULD do instead of what you WANT to do

I should start exercising, I should lose weight, I should stop smoking are all examples of what people say to themselves before setting a New Year’s resolution to do just that. The problem is that we are basing our resolutions on other people’s expectations, by what we see in a magazine, or see on television. However, we have no true motivation to achieve these goals.

The Solution:
The only way you will stick with a goal is if it means something significant to you. The first step to overcoming this obstacle is to evaluate why you are setting your particular resolution. Is it because you really want to do it, or because it is what you think you ought to do? In the same 2007 FranklinCovey survey mentioned earlier, 33% of respondents admitted that they were not committed to the resolutions they set.

When setting your resolution, think about committing yourself to one or two goals – no more – that will make you truly happy. Don’t just focus on the goal, but instead focus on why you want to achieve that goal. Instead of saying I want to stop smoking, say to yourself, I am going to stop smoking to improve my health and increase my energy and stamina when playing with my kids. By tapping into the reason or motivation behind the goal, you are more likely to commit yourself to achieving your goal.