New Habits for a New Year

Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.” ~ Denis Waitley

Wow. What a year! The turkey leftovers are gone. There are just a few pine needles left in the carpet. And your Aunt Miriam, thank goodness, has gone home to Indiana and has taken the fruitcake with her. Now it’s time to reflect.

I don’t know about you, but I reached many of my goals in 2012, and that feels great! Still, I know 2013 will bring plenty more challenges and opportunities. It would be boring, wouldn’t it, if we were completely finished with everything by the end of the year. I mean, what would we do then?

So we carry our unfinished business into the following year. That’s what New Year’s resolutions are for, right? “For every single day of 2013. I’m going to eat just 700 calories and jog six miles!”

For many of us, new year’s resolutions are made to be broken. In fact, for some of us, the best way to make sure something doesn’t get done is to make a new year’s resolution to do it. It’s the kiss of death!

Thankfully, though, we live in the digital age where help is as close as your iPad. So this month, I’ve got two apps to recommend.

Before I tell you about them, though, this is a great time for a quick review about the importance of setting – and writing down – your goals.

Yes. I said write down your goals. Think you don’t need to write them down? Let’s test that. What if I offer you a million dollars to drive to San Diego, California, but with a catch: I’m going to drop you off in the middle of nowhere, on a road without any signs pointing the way. You have three days get to San Diego, but you are not allowed to get out of your car or ask for directions. And you aren’t allowed to use a map. What do you think? Could you do it?

At the very least, it’s going to be really, really difficult to do. You’re probably going to spend the next three hours just trying to figure out where the heck you are.

But let’s change that offer: This time I offer you $1,000,000 to drive to San Diego, but I give you a map and point you in the right direction. It would be a very different offer, don’t you think?

I write down goals every day. It’s a key part of my success both in real estate and in my personal life. I teach my students that goals should be “SMART”: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Trackable,

But if all you do is write down your goals and stuff them in a drawer, they’re not going to do you much good. Which brings me to my first mobile app for the year: “Make It Happen!” by Cobalt Techno for iPad and iPhone.

This clever little program is right up my alley. The software is easy to use, and it allows me to plan overall goals, define milestones, and track my progress, too. It even lets me set up monetary goals with specific dollar amounts, so I can save for a vacation or build up private financing for a large real estate deal. With my goals clearly written, updated and always close at hand, I can just about ensure success for 2013.

But I told you I had two app recommendations for January, not just one. I’m also recommending MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal tracks exercise, diet, and much more. And because it’s Internet based, you don’t’ have to have an iPad, iPod or iPhone to use it. This recommendation may seem frivolous, but success in every aspect of your life – including your business — depends on maintaining your physical health.

Besides, we both know that even though Aunt Miriam took the fruitcake home, she left behind two dozen of her famous double-dark-chocolate-butterscotch-and-cookie-dough-pecan brownies. And they’re calling to me.