What The Mere 8 Percent Know About Successful New Year Resolutions

Did you already have an inkling that a whopping ninety-two percent of us were perennial losers?

That's apparently how many give up on New Year's Resolutions.

What sets those that see them through - the roughly one in twelve triumphant - apart?

Well, these past few days of "twixmas" (which I heard comic Simon Evans refer to as "the festive perineum"), across the media there's been a glut of advice from self-styled self-help selfie-lovers.

Chunking, baby steps, constant reminders.

You can no doubt guess the rest.

One useful fresh aside which helps determine success appears to be in its timing.

Whilst the 'new year' is possibly arbitrary, whether calendar or where differing the financial year, in similar vein to the Fresh Start Effect, if you're going through a period of disruption your habit change around the same time is more prone to last with impact.

We can have several such instances. From M&A type mayhem, through the typical structural team re-org or territory re-mapping, to sudden product obsolescence or tech supersession.

One further piece of content guidance I felt worthy from our Sales perspective was striking;

make them about process, not outcomes.

Yes. It's my long-time mantra. Aligned incidentally, to current trends 'systems beat goals' and 'progress over perfection'.

In our commercial selling environment, this involves identifying, following and refining that pattern of events that when you put them in train on a deal, virtually guarantee that we prevail.

If it's a good enough platform for just about every world-class sporting achievement, then it can sustain our pursuit well too.

Let's take a simple personal example.

'I must get fitter'. Which ought rather manifest itself as; 'I shall go running three mornings a week'.

This entails more than expanded crossover from the age-old SMART rubric.

Indeed, I realise I've blogged touching on such differences and more before down the years.

About those in the public eye. From world number one golfer plans. To an executive goalbot. Even Big Tech mogul singular statements.

And about vibes for Selling Resolution ideas themselves. Back in 2009, 2011, 2014 twice; Jan & Dec.

Perhaps one example in our realm, using an old school desire, could be like this. Should you feel that 'social selling' needs a little augmenting. Turn, 'I must do more cold-calling' into, 'I shall make my first dial of the day to someone I've not spoken to before, and my last too'. With a spot of finessing, you can even stipulate the question you want to ask them for the topic you want to get them thinking about and allow conversation to gush forth here.

Whatever your immediate application, the validity here is fundamental. Are you yourself looking at outcome (oh dear), or process (...phew)?