OUR last few columns on cautioning PR professionals about using outdated words, as well as that of social-media trends to prepare for in 2019 have prompted readers to ask many questions about goal setting.
Taken all together, they know that the New Year is a great time to reboot, refresh and reassess ourselves. We all have goals in life and work—losing weight, getting rich, starting a passion project and many more. But when we look at resolutions of years past, did we get to achieve them?
With that, they would like to know what we could realistically do to achieve our goals for the year. For that, we got some help from our friends in Inc.com with Jonathan Alpert’s “4 Practical Steps to Reach Your Goals in 2019,” and Minda Zetlin’s “A Zen Blogger’s 4-Step Process in Changing Your Life.”
Minda Zetlin’s “8 Years Ago, a Zen Blogger Revealed a 4-Step Process for Changing Your Life. It’s Even More Relevant Today” said that the problem sometimes is that “we start out with big plans and multiple goals that we can’t immediately reach and they quickly get swept away in the pressures and commitments of the complicated, over-scheduled lives we already have. Soon, we’ve fallen way behind our ambitious plans and we’re annoyed at ourselves for having yet failed again.”
How true and how sad, but then again, “it doesn’t have to be that way.” Eight years ago, Zen Habits blogger Leo Babauta described “a simple and powerful process for changing that dynamic and actually accomplishing major life changes.” That blog post is still very relevant today at a time dominated by social media and struggles for work-life balance and complexity of every kind.
Incidentally, Babauta’s life journey from overweight couch potato to marathon runner is the best showcase that his four-step formula—which he calls an algorithm—works in getting it done.
• Start very small. In the post, Babauta first described how he radically improved several areas of his life by making just one small change at a time. For example, he began his journey to marathon running by running for 10 minutes every day.
Then he made this rather radical statement: “And then I gave up goals.” It turnerd out, he explained, that you can accomplish the same progress by making incremental small changes in the direction you want to go as by having an overarching goal you’re working toward.
• Do only one change at a time. This is important because “if you plan to make several changes at once or your changes are on some sort of grand schedule where you’ll run 10 minutes this week, you’re setting yourself up to get overwhelmed and do nothing about it.” Yes, being overwhelmed can make one immobile at times.
• Be present and enjoy the activity. (Don’t focus on results.) This is all about living in the present moment. If you think that running will help you lose weight, but hate it, don’t do it. Life is too short. Instead, find a way to achieve the same purpose with a different activity.
• Be grateful for every step you take. Babauta said he was grateful for every run he was able to make, and every healthy meal he ate. Gratitude is an important way to increase our own happiness, studies have shown. If you can’t feel thankful for the changes you’re able to make, then don’t make them. Instead, make a change that will make you feel satisfied and fulfilled.
Likewise, in his book Be Fearless and Change Your Life in 28 Days, Jonathan Alpert provided the readers pragmatic tools to “develop a positive mindset, create a clear and realistic action plan, develop a support team and lead a healthy lifestyle. Here, he provided us with four tips as we move forward our goals for the New Year.
• Make social media less significant in your life. While Alpert said there’s no doubt that technology and social media have made life easier by affording many conveniences and instant access to the world, “they’ve effectively also made us more reliant on machines and less reliant on our own brainpower.”
While he was in no way suggesting that we part with these, he is “urging you to be more aware of how they might be hurting rather than helping your brain and look at ways to strike a balance between social media and real life.”
Some tips: “While at social and professional events, get back to good old-fashioned communication and have a conversation, sans phone, and don’t let your desire to send a text or snap a picture prevent you from enjoying a priceless moment in time that can only be captured with your naked eye at the moment.”
• Say ‘no’ more often. So often, we prioritize other people’s needs before our own, Alpert said, that that’s sure to lead to anxiety, resentment and falling behind on what’s truly important to you. If you prioritize that person’s need over yours, you’ll find your productivity will suffer and resentment will mount. By saying “no” more often, you might actually feel better and do better.
• Optimize your time. How often do we hear people ranting “I’m so busy” and “I don’t have time for anything”? These are negative comments that will surely keep one overwhelmed and other people away from them. And I can only sigh.
There is a saying, though, that if you want anything done, ask a busy person to do it. It seems that very busy people who just go on with their work without ranting actually get to achieve more than those who complain.
Their secret? “Making a distinction between tasks and activities that are vital and those that are optional, you’ll be able to optimize your time,” Alpert said. “Schedule your day by doing the most important tasks first—the time you are freshest and most energetic.”
• Gaining control. Alpert said that gaining control is actually being realistic and simply recognizing that there are actually things that you can change and control. For example, one person can’t change the economy, but there are many things you can do to ensure you are financially sound by being a smart consumer, saving and investing wisely.
Rather than feeling victimized and helpless in certain situations, “open your mouth, take action and do something. Think about the practical steps you can take to safeguard yourself and move from powerless to powerful, and fearful to fearless.”
As with many situations, “perception is key and that begins in your mind. So, next time you find yourself in a situation where you have no control, take some time to change your thinking and be pleasantly surprised that changes will follow.”
All in all, “remember there’s nothing magical about January 1 and New Year’s resolutions. Every week, and every day presents a new opportunity for change. So, get started today.”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
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