One of the common reasons that people fail their resolutions is because they don’t plan for actions to make their resolutions come true. Without a plan, there is no way to translate dreams and desires into actions. As such, later during the year, it’s very easy to get distracted by other urgent, but less important issues and forget about your resolutions.

When the end of the year arrives, it’s usually too late to do much.

Sticking to your resolutions during the year is easier if you follow a systematic process to guide your actions. Before I started using professional software tools , I planned my resolutions into MS Outlook and track them using MS Excel. It had been really helpful, and I thought I like to share them today. Below are the 6 simple steps that I use to plan and track my resolutions using MS Outlook and MS Excel.

1. Determine Goals And Motivations. The first step is to list down your resolutions and what achieving them means to you. Writing your resolutions helps you gain clarity about what you want and serve as a reminder about your motivations throughout the year. Make your resolutions SMART so that you can act on and measure your actual progress:
   • Specific
   • Measurable
   • Actionable
   • Relevant
   • Time-frame (datelines)

   I suggest using MS Excel to track your resolutions. To make it easy to start you off, I have included an Excel Resolutions Tracking template (to save - simply right-click on the link and ’save as…”). Please feel free to adapt it to your own needs. The important thing is to have a place to document your goals and track your progress during the year.

   

2. Define Measurements To Determine Success. For each resolution, make sure you also determine some metric to measure your progress. Remember, you cannot track what you cannot measure . Although not everything can be measured directly, it is still beneficial to be creative and come up with some form of indirect measurement to track your progress. Some examples below:
   • Possible Measures For Weight Lost Resolutions:
     • Weight.
     • Your waistline.
     • Number of gym sessions attended.
     • Number of miles/kilometers ran.
   • Possible Measures For Spending More Quality Time With Family/Friends:
     • Number of family outings.
     • Number of meals together.
     • Number of family meetings.
     • Birthdays celebrated together.
     • Hours talked over phones calls with friends.

   You may also check the Resolutions Tracking template which includes some common metrics in the samples.

3. Plan For Action - Schedule Appointments. Once you have determined your success criteria, it is easier to determine the relevant actions needed to achieve it. Here’s where MS Outlook becomes really helpful. Open its Calendar in the month view and schedule blocks of time into the year ahead to act on your goals. At the same time, make sure you set the reminders for these appointment well ahead of time so that you can prepare for them. For example, I make it a point to have lunch or dinner with my mum at least once a week and I simply schedule a weekly recurring appointment to make sure that I stick to it throughout the year. The same works for keeping fit, simply schedule exercise sessions or runs as a recurring weekly appointment.
   

4. Plan For Reviews. Once you’ve scheduled all your appointments and tasks into MS Outlook, also schedule one weekly recurring appointment named “Weekly Review”. The purpose of this session is to frequently review your resolutions, actual progress and plan. I like to do this at the start of each work week to set my focus. In this way, you set aside time each week to align your yearly goals and your weekly activities. Doing this frequently really helps to keep you on track. If you miss something the week before, you’ll know to make it up in the following week.
   
5. Take Immediate Action. Once the planning is done, it’s time to take action. By taking actions on the immediate week, you’ll start your first step to make your resolutions come true. Build up momentum and break the inertia. This will get you to a great start for the year.
6. Measure And Review. Make sure you perform the weekly review that you have scheduled in Step 4. Don’t under estimate this step. If you missed it on a certain day, remember to reschedule the review to the next immediate day possible. Your actions will give you progress and feedbacks about your earlier plan and resolutions. During the feedback session, take measures of what has happened in the earlier week and take stock of what’s achieve and not achieved. If not achieved, why not. Use these information to direct your actions for this week and review your plan for the remaining weeks of the year.

   

Using MS Outlook and MS Excel is very helpful because it is a working tool that most of us will need to use daily. As such, you see your resolutions more frequently. The more often you are reminded of your resolutions and associated tasks, the better your chances of acting on them.

If you use a PDA and synchronizes it with MS Outlook, it’s even better as you now carry your appointments around with you even when you are not at your desk.

Tracking your resolutions with MS Outlook and MS Excel is something that you can implement readily with your existing work applications. It is a cheap and easy way to start a systematic process which drives actions aligned with your resolutions.

If you like something which is more integrated or automated, I suggest that you also check out one of these tools for tracking your resolutions .

Have a great 2008!

Resource:

Excel Resolutions Tracking template

(Photo by merlinprincesse)

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