Chronicle Books Blog

Before writing this post, I looked up a couple of the definitions of the word RESOLUTION. Here they are:

1. A resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.

2. The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.

It doesn’t say anything about how to resolve the resolution to a satisfactory conclusion!

Every year, it is customary to make New Year’s resolutions. It is also customary to know before you even make them that you will probably break them. So… going into it, we are doomed to fail!

As I have learned the art of goal setting, I have come to understand why it was always so difficult for me to make and keep my New Year’s resolutions. Because they were just wishes. There was no real method to my madness. I would think about what I wanted to do and think about doing it and then I would think about how I could excuse myself for my lack of resolve and then think about being pissed off at myself for failing to keep my resolutions. A never-ending vicious circle. And the insanity of it is that I (and millions of other crazy people) do it EVERY YEAR.

Well, I figured out a solution for my conundrum. My lifeboard! I am one of those people who needs to do more than just think about something. I am a tactile, audio, visual, gustatory learner! The more senses I involve, the better. If I can touch it, hear it, see it, and be eating at the same time, I’m golden.

Every year for the last 15 years I have created a personal lifeboard. My lifeboard is my 3 dimensional diary for the coming year. You may know it by the names “vision board” or “dream board” but that doesn’t speak to the importance of my LIFE, so I call it a lifeboard.

I begin by determining what I want to accomplish and what I want to “get” over the next 12 months in various areas of my life. I am as detailed as humanly possible. I actually do a meditation where I get to “feel” as though my goals are accomplished. Once I have experienced my “successes,” I then journal my goals. They say that a goal is a dream with a deadline, so I write them very specifically, in the present tense, and I give them a deadline.

I develop a plan of action for each area of my life. I basically tell my brain what to do. Then I listen to that little voice in my head—my little “psycho parrot”—that tells me I must be joking… that I couldn’t possibly create that. When I hear that voice, I then respond, again, with my affirmation. Trust me, this could be a very long-winded conversation, but one thing always happens at the end. I WIN! My psycho parrot is beaten into submission and all it can say is “OK! I give up!”

Next step is to get out my lifeboard and make a visual collage of what I have determined I want to achieve. As a result of my goal setting, visualization, and journaling, I am totally clear about what I want and how I am going to achieve my goals. I cut out pictures and words and phrases from magazines that speak to me loud enough to say “CUT ME OUT!” It’s almost as if they jump off the page. That’s how connected I am to what I am creating.

This isn’t magic. This is how the brain works. An electrical spark leads to a thought that leads to an impulse that leads to an action.

So, I have figured out how to make and keep my resolutions… whether they are for a new year or for a new day. You might think this is too much work. I ask you… HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT WHAT YOU SAY YOU WANT? If a little work is enough to scare you off, then you couldn’t want it that much! It takes work. Consistent work and… action… and it all starts with a thought—the RESOLUTION to DO something… but without the DO… you DON’T get what you want!

What is my resolution for 2011? I am creating a wonderful year on my new lifeboard that includes love, happiness, success, and perfect health. But, this time, I am creating my lifeboard on my Lifeboard: Follow Your Vision, Realize Your Dreams, published by Chronicle Books. Having spent 15 years developing this concept and resolving to share it with the world and taking action to do so has actually made it come true.

I am SO glad I made that resolution over and over again and never gave up!

And, this year’s resolution? That The Lifeboard is a best seller and assists others in changing their lives and realizing their dreams and goals, as I have. Believe me, I am DOING everything in my power to make it so!

Sue Shifrin-Cassidy
www.thelifeboard.net

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