G(oals) P(riorities) S(teps) for the New Year

The beginning of the year is the time when we each make New Year’s Resolutions.  I propose a shortcut that will help you make your resolutions come true.  I call it GPS.

Most of us already know that GPS stands for Global Positioning System.  All you have to do is to enter a destination into your GPS device or smartphone and presto! The route will be mapped for you.  So how can you find the most efficient route to achieving your New Year’s Resolutions (or any resolution)? It’s simple. Let’s use those same three letters for:

Goals. What are your goals for the year?

Priorities.  Which is your most important goal?  Your second most important?

Steps.  What steps do you need to take in order to meet each goal?

How does GPS work? To illustrate, let’s take one of my perennial goals – to lose weight, and, for this year, it’s seventeen pounds.  I should mention that during the past two years I have lost a total of more than sixty pounds, so GPS has worked.

To achieve that Goal, I have to make it my top Priority at all times – morning, noon, night, when I’m happy, when I’m tired, even when I’m really, really hungry. This year losing seventeen pounds will be my first and only Priority.

Next, I outline the Steps I need to take to achieve my goal:

1. No buffets.  If I am at a buffet I will ask someone else to prepare one plate of food for me.  No seconds, ever.
2. At each meal I will eat between two and six ounces of protein and never more than one slice of bread.
3. At a restaurant I will either share my entree with someone else, or before I eat a single bite I will put half of my order in a box to take home.
4. I will not eat more than two desserts a week.
5. I will report back to you on my progress during the first week of April.

These are the steps that I think will work for me.  Different steps might work better for you.

GPS. This morning I weighed 215 pounds. By April first I intend to be well on my way to losing 17 pounds.

I hope this year you achieve your own New Year’s Resolutions.  By using GPS, I am confident that you will.

Have a great year.

Alan