Tips for Successful New Year's Resolutions

As the end of 2009 draws to a close, Hennessy Construction is busier than ever. Our accounting department is preparing for their year end processes. Our project management and superintendent staff is pushing their projects through the hectic and often unpredictable holiday schedule. Our business development and estimating team is working to create a substantial back log of work for the New Year. The year 2010 marks Hennessy’s 90th year in business and promises to be a very prosperous and memorable time. As a business, we are setting goals for not only what we want to accomplish during the next 365 days, but also the ways that we want to honor to people and projects of the past 90 years.

The New Year represents fresh starts, a time of change and is a time for goal setting not only for businesses but for individuals. Many of us, like the rest of the world, are thinking of what New Year’s Resolutions we will be making. At one time or another, every one of us has experienced the excitement and hope of the New Year, only to be followed by guilt and disappointment when we failed to keep the lofty resolutions we set for ourselves. With that in mind, please consider these tips for how to make resolutions. We don’t guarantee that you’ll keep your resolutions, but we do promise that by using these steps you will have a much better chance of success.

1. Set a realistic number of goals.
2. Be specific.
3. Have a plan.
4. Be accountable.

SET YOUR GOAL

You want to lose weight? Save money? Learn a new language? Spend more time gardening? Quit smoking? Whatever your goals are for the New Year, keep your lifestyle and stress level in mind. If your goals are to lose weight, quit smoking, cut down on coffee and chocolate and start an exercise program, you might be setting yourself up for failure by taking on too many resolutions at the same time. Prioritize and set a reasonable number of goals for yourself. Perhaps start by quitting smoking in January and setting another goal to start an exercise program by March.

BE SPECIFIC
Having too much wiggle room in your goals is a surefire way to fall off the wagon. Setting a goal to save money is not specific enough to insulate yourself from failure. In this case, you would need to seriously review your finances and decide how much money can you safely put away each week and then set your goal. Specific goals are more likely to be kept than general goals. So instead of saying you want to “save money,” make a resolution to save $1,000.00 by the end of the year. Sock away just $20 a week and your goal will be realized.

HAVE A PLAN


By making your resolution specific you have brought yourself one step closer to a goal that you will be able to keep. Now you have to consider what your method will be to achieving your goal. Just as “saving money” or “losing weight” are too general to be effective, making a goal with no plan on how to achieve that goal is setting yourself up for failure. To continue the example of “saving money,” you need to consider what will be the best way for you to sock away that $20 each week. Perhaps, you could put it into a Christmas club type account at your bank where you cannot withdraw the money until December. Perhaps you could have the $20 direct deposited to a new account at an out of the way bank to make withdrawing the money as inconvenient as possible. Just be sure to cut up any ATM or Debit cards linked to that account. As a last resort, you could always get two rolls of quarters each week and store them in a safe deposit box or a piggy bank hidden at the back of your closet. Regardless of your goal, having a plan is a necessity if you want to be successful.

BE ACCOUNTABLE

Find a trusted friend or family member and confide in them your important resolution. Your “accountability partner” should check in with you on a regular basis to make sure you are staying on track. Before selecting the person you want to be accountable to, consider what type of personality will be the best to help you through the temptation. All worthy resolutions come with their own set of temptations to pull you off the proverbial wagon so having someone to be accountable to will help you move through those times of temptation and keep you on track. Some people may need someone who is a good and sympathetic listener while other people might need someone willing to slap the fork out of your hand right before you dig into the extra large slice of chocolate cake.

By following these four simple steps you will be well on your way to sticking to your New Year’s Resolution and make a real change in your life.

Hennessy Construction Services wishes everyone a happy, safe and prosperous New Year.

Posted by: Debbie Armour

Debbie has been a part of the Hennessy team for nearly seven years. After nearly four years working as a Field Administrative Assistant, Debbie has been a vital part of some of our most impressive projects including the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority Transportation Management Building in Tampa and the addition of the Hazel Hough Wing at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. She has been back in the main office since early 2008 where she multitasks between her duties as Webmaster, Administrative Assistant, DPO Administrator and Receptionist, as well as maintaining Hennessy's social media apps and acting as a producer on Hennessy's video projects.