My primary focus as a Sarasota Roofing Contractor is to help people win, not just with their roofing needs but also in all areas of life. Hopefully this message will help you to create a prosperous year for yourselves.

This time of year, it’s customary for many to make New Year’s resolutions. Then by the end of January (if you’re lucky), it’s customary to break or have forgotten said resolutions.

I think it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, “Of what use to make heroic vows of amendment if the same old law breaker is to keep them?”

Think about all the people you know who have made resolutions to start the New Year, and consider what percentage of those who actually stuck to them.

What makes it so difficult to keep these promises we make to ourselves? Let’s consider some typical resolutions. Quit smoking, lose weight, drink less alcohol, pay off debt … and so on.

Here are a few reasons.

The first problem I’ll mention is, these are NOT inspiring. Yes, it would be great if you could do all this stuff. But if you look closely, they are all about things you will miss out on.

Quit smoking. This is all about giving something up.

[Tweet “How can you expect to succeed if your focus is entirely on what you’re missing out on?”]

And it’s a similar story with all the others. Why would anyone pursue such a goal?

Another problem with many resolutions is that they are not specific enough. For example, you go on a diet, you lose a pound by the end of January. GREAT!! You’ve just achieved your resolution, you lost weight. Pointless. And while we are taking about losing weight; typically when you lose something, you look for it. So instead say, I am releasing weight.

You may have heard of an acronym called SMART goals. It stands for:

• Specific – Don’t just say I want to lose weight, say I want to lose 10 pounds.
• Measurable – You should know exactly when you’ve hit your goal
• Achievable – Make it realistic
• Resonant – Make sure it’s something that inspires you
• Time Bound – And put a due date on it

The final problem I will mention here is we do not believe it. This is the biggest problems all of us face. Our body will never, in fact it is impossible for it to consistently act in a manner that is inconsistent with our belief about ourselves or our self-image.

Studies about how our minds work have proven our subconscious mind cannot reject any thought and in addition it does not accept any negative words like “not, no, less, away from, and quit.” Our subconscious mind can only “accept” and it accepts every affirmative thought our conscious mind allows. Understanding this will make a powerful difference on how to structure resolutions. For instance, when we set a resolution like “I quit overeating or I will quit smoking” our subconscious mind can only hear and receive “I overeat, and I will smoke”.  A far better resolution would be to say, “I choose to be healthy, and I only eat at meal times.”

When affirmation, goals and resolutions are properly set our body had direction on how to act out what our mind dictates to it. It is very difficult to not eat or smoke when all you are thinking about is food and smoking. It is impossible to get out of debt when all we think about is debt. However, if you are focused on being healthy and being prosperous we have something to reach towards.

“As he thinks in his heart, so is he,” says King Solomon.

Make it a prosperous and healthy year.