This is a great scene out of the movie City Slickers. The conversation between Curly and Mitch demonstrates a simple yet effective strategy to find success and happiness. One thing. What’s the one thing that drives you, motivates you, and gets you up every morning? It’s up to you to figure it out.
More than 206 million people (87% of us) made New Year’s resolutions this year, and by February 1(today), more than 50% have already given up on their goals. More than 75% of people will have forgotten their goals by the time summer arrives.
These statistics came from a book I just read entitled One Word that will Change Your Life by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon. I decided to read this book because it came highly recommended by Ken Blanchard, who is one of my favorite authors.
Blanchard says this about the book: “One Word is a great little book that conveys a profoundly simple idea. Discover your one word for the year, own it, live it, and experience its impact on your life. One word for this book: priceless!” This book is a quick read (in fact, it only took me 43 minutes to read it), and it helped me discover my one word that I now have posted on my vision board.
The authors of One Word make the argument that most resolutions fail because they are based on a flawed foundation of more effort, willpower, and goal setting. This flawed foundation occurs when we set “to do” goals instead of “to be” goals.
In other words, people set goals and measure success by what they accomplish instead of by who they become.
The most important thing is not to change our goals but rather to change who we are. The authors advocate selecting a single word that will be your driving force for an entire year. No goals and no resolutions. Just one word!
We can choose words such as Serving, Purpose, Grace, Surrender, Power, or Discipline. By living and breathing one word for 365 days, we gain a whole new perspective on how we approach our year, and this gives us renewed purpose and meaning. Words are powerful. If we find one word to live by, it can inspire, encourage, and turn the impossible into the possible.
I am not in complete agreement with the authors’ idea that we shouldn’t have written goals. However, when going through their process to come up with my own one word, an ironic thing happened. I discovered that my one word is actually woven throughout all of my personal and professional goals. My written goals now have a focal point and possess stronger meaning and purpose in my life. I have my one word on my iPhone vision board to constantly remind me why reaching all of my goals in 2013 is so important to me.
Last year I wrote a blog about finding our “Why Power.” This particular post talks about the fact that it is not enough to just have goals; it is also imperative to maintain a long-term perspective in order to stay motivated. It’s up to each of us to discover the “why” and to have the will to fight!
“Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.” (Robert Strauss)
Passion will get you motivated, but determination will ensure that you fight the good fight. Having one word is a powerful way to create a narrow focus with a broad impact. It’s my “Why Power!” It’s a constant reminder of why I get up every day and work so hard to reach all my goals, both personal and professional.
Everyone wants happiness and success. It’s those who own their goals, take responsibility for them, and under no circumstances give up on them who get ahead in life and reach levels of success—turning their dreams into reality!
If discovering your one word is a journey you would like to embark on, you can order the book by clicking on the icon below, and it will take you to Amazon. Good luck and happy reading!
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