We’re coming up on New Years Eve, and with it, comes a whole lot of New Year’s Resolutions. I call them promises. 
- I promise to be a better person.
- I promise to be a better father or mother.
- I promise to be a better friend.
- I promise to work harder.
- I promise to workout more.
The list can be endless, and so can the taunts. “You always make these promises and you don’t act on any of them!” That’s a classic oldie but goodie, and one that often accompanies such bold promises. We then tend to reverse-course, scold ourselves for having the audacity to even make promises, and back away from any real commitments by saying things like this to ourselves:.
- Don’t make promises. You’ll just be disappointed if you fail to meet them.
- Don’t make promises. You’ll just be putting too much pressure on yourself.
- Don’t make promises. You’ll just get your hopes up for no good reason.
- Don’t make promises. You’ll just fade out on whatever you’ve promised.
- Don’t make promises. You’re just be like everyone else who fail to act on their promises.
So, I guess the solution is this: Don’t use New Years as a time to make any significant promises or resolutions – you won’t really act on any of them. Let’s wrap this week’s BLArticle® up – nothing to see here folks – time to go home.
Well, I’m not ready to go home quite yet!
Are we really going to avoid setting lofty goals, and making promises because we may fail? No, How about we make a few new promises:
- I promise to limit the promises I make so I can do a few things really well, versus doing many things haphazardly.
- I promise to set reasonable goals, and not fear failure. As a matter of fact, I promise if I try my hardest and fail, I will wear that failure around my neck like a badge of honor. That badge will read, “I had the courage to try.”
- I promise that any goal I set will come with a thought out course of action. Want to make good on a promise? Don’t just make a promise; make a list of actions that will provide you a reasonable opportunity to achieve that goal, and make a commitment to work your way through them.
Here’s to an intelligent set of promises with an intelligent game plan of achieving them. Here’s to having the guts and courage to put those promises out there for you and everyone else to see. If you are successful; good for you! If you are not successful; good for you too! Just don’t let anyone tell you it’s not okay to make those promises. Happy New Year.
- I had the pleasure of spending some time on my son’s podcast, “Everything But The Scores.” Want to have some fun? Have a listen to this… https://www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everything-but-the-scores-with-danny-jolles/id1486024404
- I recently had the privilege of sitting down and spending nearly an hour talking to Jay Izso, on his show, “A New Direction.” We talked about a book I wrote a few years ago called, The Way of the Road Warrior, and the enormous challenge of balancing the work we do, and the families that support us while we do it. So many of us struggle with one of the most fundamental needs of our families; our prescience. Give it a listen – I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy it! https://www.jayizso.com/lessons-life-business-way-road-warrior-rob-jolles/
- I’ve appeared on the Small Business Advocate Show with Jim Blasingame for almost 20 years now, and you’ll find dozens of our conversations on his website. Here’s a link to over 100 interviews done over the years including my most recent that explores the myths and techniques involved in closing. https://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-experts/rob-jolles-134
- Clearly, I do my fair share of interviews, but this interview with the Salesman Podcast was a lot of fun, and if you’re looking to Change Minds, one you should find interesting… https://www.salesman.org/the-simple-step-by-step-process-to-influence-anyone-with-rob-jolles/
- Onward Nation: https://predictiveroi.com/podcasts/rob-jolles/
- As a 30+ year professional speaker and trainer, one of the most common questions I get is this: “How do we make sure the training sticks?” Take a moment and listen to this podcast; “SalesChats” with John Golden. If you want to know why most training fails, listen up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR3dDOlTK7U&list=FLxBXKhqz0xBwbUPMqNthAJA&index=2&t=1293s