But I was reflecting the other night on the knowledge I gained this year.  I learned a lot.  I learned techniques to become more effective.  I learned how to step up.  I learned how to lead better.  More than anything I’ve learned how to make me a “better me.”  With my knew knowledge, I wanted to put together a plan of action of sorts to take advantage of what I’ve read, what I’ve been taught, etc.

So instead of resolutions, I’m creating habits in 2012.  These are small daily tasks that will continue to make me smarter, sharper, better, in better shape/health, drive my career and my business, and just make me a more pleasant person.

With that, here are the 7 things I plan to implement and why I think they will help.

1.  Make a daily to-do list.  After reading “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy, I learned a lot about getting organized for my daily activities as well as keeping my personal, professional, and business life on track.  And this is something that I subconsciously do but never put it to paper (or, in my case, to iCloud).  This is my biggest thing to change and implement.

2.  No TV/computer/work at night within 30 minutes of bedtime.  Instead, I plan on engaging that time as personal development time.  This will be my time to dive into a good book, learn a bit more, etc.  Now, granted my book very well may be on my iPad, but I’ll still devote that time to reading.

3.  Ample sleep.  7-8 hours minimum a night.  That means I’m getting to bed early (10-10:30).  This will cut down in my extra work per night, which means I must be even more efficient during the day and early evenings.

4.  Dive into Scripture every morning.  I usually start my day by checking email, web browsing, etc.  Instead, I’m going to take 15-20 minutes and read The Bible some.  This is a personal choice, and I realize that not everyone reading this is Christian, but that’s fine.  I am, and this is something I’m going to do.

5.  Exercise and Eat Primal.  The exercise part I do fairly well already.  Eating Primal is something I plan on doing in 2012 and will write some about here on the blog (I’ll also write more frequently about it on my fitness blog).

6.  Journaling/blogging.  I need to be better at this.  I write a lot about fitness, diets, etc, but sometimes I need to just write and reflect thoughts on various things.  Some post I may write and never make public.  I may just write to vent, etc, and mark it as private on my blog.

7.  Spend more family time/more time devoted to family only.  Listen, it’s easy to get distracted.  TV, cell phones, demanding job, business, whatever…even for me, I find myself not paying enough attention to my kids and wife.  I’m not saying that I’m going to spend X amount of time a day with them, but I plan to make a conscious effort to unplug, unglue, and pay attention to them more.

Now obviously, some of these are breaking of one habit and establishing another.  But I’m okay with that.  Some of these are major changes, such as the move to eating Primal.  But that’s cool.

I know that doing these 7 things daily will make me better at what I do.

It will make me better at who I am.

And maybe, just maybe, some of these will help you as well.

But now it is time to do what I need to be doing, and you should be too:  Forgetting about “resolutions” and take action.

Resolutions is such a funny word in how we use it.  We “resolve” to do something, but there is no real action taken with just a resolution.  In fact, Congress passes “resolutions” all of the time.  They typically recognize people, places, etc, but there is no real action, just a nicely worded phrase.

And all to often, that is what “New Years Resolutions” just end up being:  Nicecly worded phrases.

We say things like “I want to lose weight” but never get started…

We say things like “I want to change my financial future” but never take that first step….

We say things like “This year will be better than last year” yet we never do anything differently…

Nicely worded phrases.  How do you avoid this problem?

Instead of setting resolutions, set goals.  This is what April and I are doing:

1.  We’re writing down our big picture objectives.  We know what we want.

2.  We’re taking each of those goals or objectives and breaking them into sections.  Bite sized chunks, so to speak…

3.  We’re taking each of those sections and writing the actions we are going to take to make it happen.

Goals are important.  An interpretation from Proverbs says “Where there is no vision the people perish.”  If you don’t know what you want out of life, how do you expect to achieve anything?  Do you think you will just wonder into a good situation?

Goals do not work like that.  Luck does, but goals do not.

So here is what I suggest:  Get your goals down on paper.  Do it as a family, with your wife and your children (if they are old enough to participate).  Get a clear picture of what you want.  Write down the steps to achieve that.  And once you have all of that down, get to work!

Here’s to an EXCITING 2010.  I pray that you prosper in all of your goals.

Brent