Around the start of every year, millions of people create their New Year's resolutions. Often, this is closer to a bucket list of all the things they'd like to solve in their life. But instead of carrying it round and crossing off each item in turn (like Jason Lee's character in My Name is Earl), you're probably not alone in writing out your list, maybe referring to it a couple of times in early January and then near enough completely forgetting about it until next year comes around and it's time to write your list again. The quantity approach is most people's solution to writing out their New Year's resolutions. It seems a good idea at the time. After all, if you've got a long list of things that you're really going to do this year (honest!) then you're bound to get them done. But actually that doesn't happen in practice. All those things you wrote out this year are probably near enough identical to the ones you wrote last year and the year before that. And, if truth be known, probably the same as the ones you wrote a decade or more ago. The usual suspects for a New Year's resolution list are things like weight loss, stopping an awkward habit like smoking, getting a raise, going on a dream holiday, finding the man or woman of your dreams, the list goes on. Which is the problem. Long lists tend just to get more things added to them. With nothing removed from the original list. Which means they get more and more daunting and, in the end, we give up on them. In the case of resolutions, probably around the middle of January. Or, if you're the persistent type, by the start of February. So I'd like you to try a different approach this year. Whether you're reading this at the start of the New Year or at some other point - maybe when you step on the scales before you're due to go on vacation and realise that you're heavier than you were a few months ago, maybe when you're sitting behind the same desk on the same pay as you were this time last year. Scrap the bucket list of resolutions. Or file it somewhere out of sight if you prefer. Instead, pick on just one resolution. If you've not been too successful with this in the past, make it something that you can actually complete in a week or two. This relatively small item won't change the world but it will change the way your mind thinks about this. You see, a New Year's resolution list isn't just for a few days at the start of a year. It's actually a road map for where you want your life to go. But, just like you can't be on tens or hundreds of different roads at once, you're going to be concentrating on one item at a time. So, pick off a simple goal from your list. Then actually complete it! That could be a first for you - it's not unusual for absolutely no resolutions to be completed. So don't beat yourself up if that's true for you. The impetus that completing an item gives you has to be experienced to be believed. Even if if's a small item at first. It gives your subconscious mind the idea that you're actually serious about achieving your goals. And it gives you the courage to pick off another, slightly bigger, goal next time. When you do this, you'll get so much more done you'll be amazed. You'll end up crossing off 6 or more items from your resolution list over the course of the year. Which is likely 6 or more than you'd have done if you tried the normal approach of running in umpteen different directions at once. You owe it to yourself to prune your New Year's resolution list down to one item at a time and pick each one off, like a sniper. A large part of the trick of getting your New Year's resolutions completed is to stay focused. You can get more ideas about getting and staying focused here. And it's worth making sure that you stay on target by using a personal development plan so that you can get in the habit of working on your resolutions year round, not just for a handful of days at the start of January. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexander_Lynch Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7445772