Success requires work!

As we head into a new year, many people are feverishly working on their new years resolutions lists and trying to complete their 2012 resolutions. Many people will follow through on their resolutions through February or March before they give up and fizzle out.  But a small number of people will continue to plug away through the entire year.  They will run into road blocks, speed bumps, and brick walls, but they will push through.  Nevertheless.  I love that word, it's one of my favorite words. Nevertheless.  To which group will you belong in the new year? 

Even if you belonged to the first group, you now have a chance to join  the second group. It will not be easy.  If you are like most people, you work a full time job, you are working on a degree, you have relationships to maintain, bills to pay, the list goes on.  I work a full time job, am working on two books, and my MBA program starts in a few days.  Your life list may be slightly different or slightly similar.  Nevertheless, if you want to be successful in the new year and for the rest of your life for that matter; whatever your idea of success is, success requires work. 

The following list will help you as you strive to be successful.  This is the list that has helped me in the past:

• Make a list of everything you would like to accomplish in 2013.  Make the list comprehensive, realistic, and short.  If you put too many items on your plate, your list, you probably will get only one or two things done, or nothing at all will be completed.  My Dad told me something a few years ago and I believe that is why I now have my bachelor's degree: 'You start but you don't finish'.  Ouch! He didn't mean it in a general sense, he was referring to my having not finished my degree at that point.  This leads to my next point.
• Listen to people who have your best interests at heart.  You don't have to do everything they say, but you should hear what they are saying.  Surround yourself with smart, forward-thinking people.  People whose lives you can see are headed in the right direction.   would you take advice from someone whose life is a mess and doesn't seem to be headed in the right direction?
• Learn to say no.  During the two years it took me to finish my bachelor's, I had to say no to many things I would have loved to do.  I was asked to teach a class, go to the movies, join certain groups.  Those were all good things to do, but my priority at that time was school.  Yes, I took a break once in a while to go to a movie or to the beach, but I did not add more items to my plate or hang  out with friends every weekend. Which, by the way, leads to my next point.
• Learn to prioritize.   Once you make your list, re-write your list in order of priority.  Did you know that everyone has priorities?  Whether they tell you what those priorities are, is another story.  Sometimes they may be your priority, but you may not be theirs.  Make sure you know what your priorities are and only change them if you are comfortable with the changes. 
• Check off each item as it as completed.  I am a list and day timer person.  I realize not everyone can be this way, I don't understand why.  Nevertheless, that's what works for me.  Checking items off your list will give you a sense of accomplishment and makes you look forward to the next items on your list with an "I can do this" attitude.  And you can do this!  Regardless of the road blocks, speed bumps and brick walls, you can do it.  We all run into blocks, getting through them is what separates us from the February fizzlers and makes us successful.  Go for it in 2013! Nevertheless!