Compliments of John C Bullas via Flickr

With 2014 on the roll, many of us are scrambling to assemble loose ends – those things throughout the previous year that we simply did not have time to accomplish. This is a looking back exercise that helps us to get our house in order.

A more pressing concern is the manner in which we’ll behave going forward. In what ways do you personally wish to improve in 2014? In his book Success Principles, Canfield urges us to “. . . keep getting better and better every day in every way.” What are your meta-goals for the calendar year, and how can you delineate them to achieve your quest? Committing your vision to paper is a first step (and an essential act) to attain your dreams.

The process of positive change involves discipline. It’s so much easier to “relax” in front of the TV, to talk to a friend, to lounge about the house, or to become wrapped up in the latest issue of our favorite magazine. I’ve devised a low tech means for ensuring I accomplish what’s on my plate for the upcoming year. After creating meta-goals, I daily craft detailed lists that work backwards. I keep one note card on the left-hand side of my keyboard (the daily “to-do” list), and the other (my meta-goals) on the right-hand side. Each day I transfer the daily “to do” tasks to my Outlook Electronic Calendar, and color code input them by category as “all day events.” I may not achieve all that I’d planned, but at least I’ve made progress.

Getting to where you want to go takes concerted, committed effort. It entails keeping your nose to the grind stone, carving out time to accomplish tasks, and keeping track of where you’ve been. Canfield argues that “baby steps” to goal achievement are more effective than either the “big bites” or shot gun approaches. He recommends methodical bit by bit progression, and giving up our bad habits by replacing those with good ones.

In her book Reinventing You, Clark goes a step further by suggesting that we assemble circles of friends who can identify our limiting behaviors. “Releasing the brake” by eliminating bad habits, recognizing blind spots, and discovering developmental tools can create the new persona we wish to become.

Wishing everyone a happy and successful 2014!