According to a recent article by businessinsider.com, 80 percent of New Years resolutions fail by the second week of February. By the time you’re reading this, it will be the third week of February.
So let me ask you, how are you doing?
Another article I read by Forbes said only 8 percent of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. That’s staggering.
I’ve never been a resolutions type of guy. As a matter of fact, we do our end-of-year planning in November and start implementing those things by Dec. 1. The main reason for this part of our goal-setting is fitness. After gorging ourselves at Thanksgiving, we want to start working that meal off ASAP.
For example, we started something new this past December.
Ashley and I had been working out five days a week since May. We were getting stronger and faster but we weren’t losing weight. As a matter of fact, I gained… like a lot. I got up to 230 pounds. That’s the heaviest I’ve ever been – and it wasn’t muscle mass, either.
At the end of October, we decided to go on the keto diet beginning Dec. 1. We’d tried this diet once before without long-term success. The main reason for this was that we jumped into the diet without doing enough research. We didn’t supplement correctly, bonked, and came off the diet.
So far, I have lost 26.2 pounds in 10 weeks. I’ve gone from barely fitting into 36-inch pants to showing Ashley this morning that my 34s have room in them.
My fitness goal is to weigh 190 pounds on or before April 20. That means I will have lost 40 pounds in 20 weeks. And I’m completely focused on this goal.
That being said, I have a confession to make. I have not been completely focused in the other goal areas that we’ve set — business in particular.
During our goal setting sessions for the new year, Ashley and I made a plan of action which included dissolving the construction division of our company, renting an office and hiring an office assistant to aid us in our No. 1 objective — acquiring more deals.
Yes, we have rented an office. But I did something that went the total opposite direction of our action plan. I took a job rehabbing a house for someone else.
I’m not a contractor for hire, and I hardly ever work on someone else’s project, but I had two reasons for doing this one. One, I had deals stacked up to keep my guys busy until we made the full transition out of in-house rehabbing. The deals did what they normally do, however, and nothing closed on time. That meant I had a gap in work and a crew that was still depending on me for a paycheck.
The second reason was that the owner of the house is the mother of one of my best friends. This was going to be her personal residence. My friend needed help, and I was willing to put things on hold for him. I wanted to help ensure that his mom’s new house got a quality rehab at an affordable price and in a timely manner.
We are currently five weeks into the project. We will finish next week, and the house looks gorgeous.
By then, I’ll have spent a total of six weeks doing the exact opposite of what my goals are for the year. I have not interviewed new contractors to take our place doing the rehabs. I haven’t done the things necessary to hire and train an office assistant. Heck, I haven’t even met with a seller since December.
In order to reach your goals like the 8 percent Forbes mentioned, you have to stay laser focused on them. Losing focus will either cause you to not reach them, or it will put you at least six weeks behind schedule. Don’t be that guy.
Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.