It’s January 20th.  Here in Western PA it’s a balmy 33 degrees and snowing – sideways.  I can’t lie, it’s a hard kind of a day to get and stay motivated, especially telecommuting in my cozy apartment wearing fuzzy warm sweats.  Still, my New Year’s resolution was to improve our social media presence, so here I sit.  I’ve been told I’m creative, even articulate, and funny.  So this shouldn’t be so hard, should it?  Why do so many New Year’s resolutions fail anyway?  Studies have shown 80% fail by February.  Right about now I’d like to see an 80% chance of some darn sunshine in the forecast, but I digress, back to the topic of choice.  So I’m off track with this resolution.  So what.  Now what? So how many of you are aboard the same train veering a little?  It’s only January 20th so, hey, it’s not too late to hit the reset button!

Let’s ponder upon…..and be honest.  What’s causing the failure?  Was the goal S.M.A.R.T. to begin with?  Take a look back at the last few weeks, before it’s too late.  What can you learn?  Pinpoint the obstacles and weaknesses.  I’m not disciplined enough. Take some time and even seek some guidance to identify ways to do things differently to overcome them moving forward.  Now let’s add some accountability. Let’s face it, some of us are way better at holding others accountable than ourselves.  If that’s the case – get yourself an accountability partner.  A friend, peer, colleague, even (dare I say) a boss!  Just make sure it’s someone you’ll enjoy kicking your butt.  If you don’t see another post from me next week ping me on social media – there, the world is my accountability partner.  That’s settled so you need a new plan?  Time it out and document it.  I like to use my calendar and set the end date for the overall goal first.  Then work backwards, calendaring each ‘step’ goal that will get me to the end goal.  Mine is now specific enough to include the % of increase in social media stats which I’ll track weekly, monthly, quarterly. Which is always fun to do on a freezing cold, gloomy January day since I’m now looking at June, July and August and visions of biking, kayaking, blue water and sunshine are dancing in my head.  And again, reeling myself back in.  Time to build some new momentum, which I much prefer over building a snowman.  Not too late, new plan, double shot espresso and dark chocolate, new energy, that’s it.  I’m hitting the reset button on this one!