1:06pm | New Year’s Day is all about change right? In 2011, there was a certain event, or series of events that signaled that you were heading in the right or wrong direction of your goals and/or purpose.
Let’s take the best possible condition so that the words to follow can apply to everyone. Say you were heading in the right direction; is there some part of you that wants even more success? Is there a part of you that wants to get to destination X faster, with more efficiency than you’ve ever had? I hope so. Otherwise, what is life all about, to stay content?
In the book “Awaken the Giant Within,” Tony Robbins lays three rules down for successful, long lasting change. To sum it up, we must raise our own standards, change our limiting beliefs, and change our strategy when working toward any given achievement. In other words, what are you willing to refuse to accept from yourself? How certain are you that you can and will accomplish what you set out for? What actions are optimal to making your dreams come to fruition?
For the purpose of this article, we will focus on Robbins’ third principle, changing strategy. To streamline the process of finding the best strategy, mimicking behavior of someone that has proven their success more than once is a great start. As an example, if you’re a guy who wants a rock hard body, Arnold Schwarzenegger would provide better advice than Pee Wee Herman. Agreed?
I chose Justin Rudd. Mr. Rudd creates, promotes and executes 38 annual events in Long Beach every year, with the deliberate intention of bring folks closer together. One of Rudd’s community gatherings is the annual Turkey Trot, which in 2011 attracted 6,500 participants, and the numbers keep climbing.
But Justin’s success didn’t just happen. “Success leaves clues,” as Tony Robbins reminds us. The key question is, what does Justin do that makes his life’s decisions coincide with his goals, his mission, his purpose?
To answer this question, I started with the 100 random facts about Justin Rudd on his website and found it to be very interesting. “In conjunction with the 40 days of Lent 2011, Justin gave up all sweets, sodas, fast foods, and fried foods.” How timely.
Lent commitments serve as a perfect case study for supposed New Year’s goals. By their very nature, most 40 day 40 night commitments end sometime. What we want to know is how to make the desire, ambition, and execution of your pursuit last a long time, not ending in a matter of days.
During an in person interview, I asked Justin how he thinks people can maintain a healthy habit once lent is over? Justin replied, “It’s too easy to be accountable to just you, so be accountable to someone else.” Self-discipline defined.
Accountability is not only relevant to healthy objectives, but stretches to any area of life, whether it is finances, emotional control, spirituality, marriage, ect. It is one thing to declare what you are going to do, but it’s quite another to state how you are going to do it, and establish a certain period of time in which you will be measured by someone you trust will check in on your progress.
Don’t deny a friend the opportunity to commit to a change for the better, but put more emphasis on enhancing belief systems, and help others to develop a plan of action which can be measured by a certain date.
This is how great change happens. This is how great change last. Thanks for the example Justin.