Well? What are you waiting for?

 

It is that time of year again, when you are likely pining over your New Year’s resolutions, setting lofty goals for 2020 (even though you may subconsciously believe you won’t achieve them), or pumping yourself up to get back to the fitness club to hit those fitness targets.

 

The challenge is, the New Year is not really a great time to set goals and establish resolutions. Because they are only set annually, they become unattainable, and you easily lump yourself in with everyone else who, by mid-February, have also lost their energy and motivation to pursue them. Goals and resolutions need to be set with a shorter timeline, one year is a long time! You will likely find that quarterly is the best interval.

 

As an example, instead of having an annual goal for weight loss or achieving a certain fitness or strength target, set a 3 month goal. If you do that 4 times per year, you are effectively achieving what you set out to do with an annual goal, but you are far more likely to meet or exceed your target. The victories come more quickly, encouraging you to push through the next ‘season’ or quarter.

 

So now we have achievable and attainable goals, how do we stay focused and committed? In a recent podcast I was listening to, best-selling author and world renowned speaker, Mel Robbins talked about the ‘5 second rule’ which is such a simple way to get yourself to act when it comes to making changes in your life. Your brain will push for routine and habit, so getting up at 5:30 AM to read or workout when you normally hit the snooze button and stay in bed until 7:00 AM is extremely hard. You are conditioned not to do that, and let’s face it, who actually wants to get out of bed earlier, right? Whenever you feel you need to act, do something out of your routine or comfort zone, get out of bed earlier, speak out in a meeting, write a blog, inquire about the franchise you’ve always wanted, or start working out, you can, in 5 seconds, reprogram your brain by counting backwards from 5 (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). As soon as you complete the countdown, you just act. I can’t explain the concept in a short article, so would encourage you to research her work, or get her book, I can tell you that it works.

 

Join the brand that is taking over North America

At Driverseat, we will receive nearly 10,000 inquiries from people looking to start a franchise this year. You wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there is a slight influx of inquiries around this time of year as people think about their life, their careers, and the things they want to change. Of those 10,000 prospective franchisees, a relatively small percentage will actually proceed with securing a territory by industry averages. I often wonder, is it because the rest are not ready, not qualified, or are they just programmed to not break routine?