APTIS TASK 4

Match the paragraphs with the heading 1-9. Here are 9 failures people do
that stop them achieving their resolutions.

1. The first mistake is that we don’t write our resolutions down.

2. The second one is that we create too many goals.

3. The third mistake is that we only focus on one area of our lives.

4. The next mistake is that we don’t make our resolutions specific.

5. The fifth mistake is that we don’t make our resolutions measurable.

6. The fact that we don’t assign a due date is the sixth mistake.

7. The seventh reason we fail when setting resolutions is that we don’t keep them
visible.

8. We don’t get out of our comfort zone- is the eighth mistake.

9. The final mistake is that we don’t make the resolutions compelling.

It's this time of year where we start reflecting on the past year and kind of evaluate
how far we've come and the goals we've accomplished. It's also the time when we
set out with new, great goals, and inevitably we failed at a few of them, 25 percent
of people abandon their New Years’ resolutions after one week. So how to make
and keep to our New Year's resolutions. Here are 9 mistakes people do that stop
them from achieving their resolutions:

.......................................................................This is important because if the goal

doesn't stimulate you, you're not going to put the effort in to accomplish it.
Compelling goals are spiritually meaningful, intellectually stimulating,
emotionally, energizing, or physically challenging. Resolutions that don't
motivate you, that are just set out of a sense of duty will be quickly forgotten.

.................................................................. A study done by psychologist Dr. Gail

Mathews at Dominican University of California showed that 42 percent of
students who had written their resolutions were more likely to achieve them. So
next time you're saying your goal out loud or to your friend, make sure you write
it down too.

..................................................................It's very common for us to have goals

related to our carers. However, if you're going to be fully expressed as a human
being, if you're going to become all that you were created to be, you have to set
goals in the other areas of your life. Your health, for example, your spiritual life,
your marriage, your involvement in the community, career goals. All of those
different slices of the pie have to be addressed if you're going to experience
happiness and meaning in your 'new life'.
.................................................................. Sometimes we decide we're going to
change our lives, we're going to get really serious about resolution setting, and we
set 20, 25, or even 30 different resolutions in all of these different areas. That's
simply too many. According to an old Chinese proverb "Man who chases two
rabbits catches neither." Ideally set yourself 7-10 goals in total.

.................................................................. We create the goals, we lose them in

our computers, we lose them in our desk drawers, and we just don't keep them
visible. If you don't keep them visible, you're going to forget about them because
life has a way of coming at you faster than you can process, and you get side-
tracked. You soon lose focus on what you said at the beginning of the year
mattered most.

.................................................................. We often say "I want to write a book"

or, "I want to study more" or, "I want to learn a new language". That's a good
intention, but that’s not specific enough. You might have a goal called " I want to
read more books." But that's not really a goal; it's a dream. But if you say, "I want
to read 10 books this year" that's the kind of specificity we're looking for. Or you
could say, "I want to learn photography." That's to general. But to say, "I want to
complete the Karl Taylor Photography Masterclass course..." That's the kind of
specificity we need. This actually gives you some kind of parameters to move
forward.

.................................................................. You have to have a date by which

you're going to accomplish that goal. "I'm going to lose 35 pounds by 1st July "
There are a lot of benefits of deadlines, if we put a deadline on something, then
suddenly we're accountable for it. Sometimes, you may think there's a part of you
that doesn't want to put a deadline on it, because you can't foretell what's going to
happen next month or week. There are three main benefits of deadlines, precisely
they create a sense of urgency, balance your workload and help you prioritize your
daily tasks.

.................................................................. What gets measured gets improved, and

to be able to measure it is partly an aspect of specificity but let me give you an
example. If you say, "I want to earn more money” Well, how much more money?
If you said, "I want to convince my boss to give me a 10 percent raise this year"
that would have been a measurable goal. So, you want it to be something you can
measure, something that's quantifiable, something that makes you able to know
when you've crossed the finish line.

.................................................................. If the number of things you can do

without feeling anxious are few—you’ll either be anxious a lot of the time or miss
out on a lot of the excitement life has to offer. Change your frame of mind. View
your comfort zone not as a shelter but a prison. Don’t take the safe, known path
instead choose challenge over comfort, and set goals that force you to get out of
your comfort zone.