The Step by Step Accomplishment System – Easing into the New Year

If you have a big resolution for the New Year, you may be starting off with a blast of energy, will-power, and commitment. Or, you may find that coming back from the holidays is leaving you a little tired and disoriented. I’ve had the same conversation with many people this week – it goes something like this: “Wow – I’m much more tired, disoriented, and confused than I expected – it’s taking some time to ease into things” What a relief to know that so many people were experiencing the same thing! This reminded me of a philosophy on goal achievement that not only enables you to ease into things, but also gives you a better chance of long term success. It’s a “one step at a time” process where each step builds on each other. The best way to explain it is with an example.

Let’s say your goal is to get organized. One way to approach it would be to put out an inordinate amount of energy in getting your entire place fixed up, and then expecting yourself to keep it that way. Typically, you’ll stay organized for awhile, and then slip back into your old habits. This pattern also happens a lot with dieting. People start with an amazing amount of willpower, and once they have lost the desired amount of weight begin to slowly slip back into old eating habits, gaining it back again.

The “ease into it” process is a method that is especially effective when you are working on changing something in your life that is rooted in a multitude of small habits. What you do is focus on one habit at a time – one that doesn’t require as much energy as changing everything, but will still have a significant impact. For example, you may choose to get into a solid exercise routine before eliminating your favorite foods from your diet. Or, you may organize one room, or one part of a room at a time.

Here’s a quick exercise you can use to help you decide WHICH step to start with:

1. Write a list of all the habits or behaviors you can think of that you will need to change to reach your goal

2. Rate each habit or behavior on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of (1) "impact" - how strongly changing this particular habit will impact your ability to achieve your goal, and (2) "difficulty" - how much effort it will take you to change the habit.

3. Subtract the “difficulty” score from the “impact” score and use the results to rank the habits in the order that will give you the best chance of success.

Here’s an example for weight loss:

All the habits I would need to change to reach my desired weight:


Based on this table, my highest “ranking” is a 3. That means the habits scored as a 3 would be the first habits I would focus on. Then we have a two, three zeros, and a negative three. So this is the order I would focus on for my habits:

1. Exercise Daily
2. Plan meals in advance
3. Drink lots of water
4. Document and track progress
5. Eat fewer calories
6. Eat slowly
7. Eat smaller portions
8. Don’t eat past 8pm at night
9. Eliminate chocolate and other junk food from my diet

As I master each habit, I can move on to the next habit, and when I begin to falter I back track and re-establish the earlier habits. This builds a foundation for success and ingrains habits for the long term.

It doesn’t work for all goals, but it’s a great process for creating a long term behavior change program with a high chance of success. Try it out and tell me what you think!

Copyright © 2007 Aspyrre Nahid Casazza