Feb
10
Written by:
Chris Osborn
2/10/2011 4:31
PM
You made a New
Year’s
resolution, and
we’re about 6+
weeks into 2011.
So – how are you
doing? If you’re
like me, you’ve
heard the old
saying that it
takes about 21
days to make a
new habit. Since
over 40 days
have passed
since I
“resolved” to
eat better and
exercise more, I
ought to have
the new “habit”
established.
Right? Well –
not so much
as it turns out.
Developing and
setting new
habit actually
takes quite a
bit longer than
three weeks, and
the length of
time is
dependent upon
the level of
commitment
required to
change the
targeted
behavior to a
more desirable
type of
behavior. So if
you haven’t
quite gotten
your
“resolution”
behavior where
you want it to
be, don’t worry.
There’s plenty
of time, and you
can still do it.
In our work
world, the end
of the year is
usually very
stressful. We
have the usual
end of the year
pile on
with budgeting,
performance
reviews and a
host of other
major tasks we
have to wrap up
before December
31. It’s also a
time of year
when we start
over, and many
of us look at
the New Year as
a chance to
“reboot” some
aspect of both
our work and
personal lives
with a type of
“New Year’s”
resolution.
Personally, I
want to be more
organized this
year. So far,
I’m making some
progress, but
when deadlines
are coming
faster then I’d
like, stress
mode can kick in
and I can fall
quickly into
jumping from one
thing to another
and lose my
sense of focus
and
organization.
How can I make
my resolution
stick when
things are
changing and
moving so
quickly?
I make progress
by trying to
focus on
behaviors. I
can’t always
control my
emotional
response to
stress. Few of
us really can,
but we can gain
some level of
control over how
we behave. Here
are a few ideas
that help me,
and hopefully
they can help
you, too:
-
Identify the
result I am
trying to
achieve.
-
Once I know
where I want
to go, I can
see a
step-by-step
process to
get me
there.
-
Work on
making
progress in
steps and
stages.
-
Don’t get
isolated.
-
Take care of
myself.
I am a very
social person,
but I can really
retreat into a
shell if I am
under a lot of
stress. For me
to operate at my
very best, I
must remain
closely engaged
with my team and
colleagues. The
interaction with
others, the
sharing of ideas
and just good
old fashioned
energy you can
get from being
around people
all going the
same direction
can really help.
What are you
doing to make
your work world
resolutions
stick? We’d love
to know!
