If you’re making New Year’s Resolutions – just stop right now. They’re not helping you, they may only be hurting you. And ultimately, most people give up on them in 8 days.

Want to do something that is more effective instead, and is way more powerful at helping you grow toward the level you want to achieve in your life and business? I’ll share with you exactly what to do in this blog post...

Here’s The DM and Deena celebrating New Years (a few years ago)… NO RESOLUTIONS!

HERE’S WHY RESOLUTIONS ARE BROKEN

Most people make New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year.

“I want to make more money”
“I want to lose weight”
... and so on.

And maybe they even get ultra-specific and say, “I’m going to go to the gym every day” or “I’m going to quit smoking.”

This seems to be a smart thing to do. But is it?

According to an article by the Washington Post, a quarter of people give up their New Year’s resolutions by the first week of January. And the same article quotes research that reveals: approximately half of resolution-setters give up by March. And an article published in Forbes reports that only 8% of people who set resolutions actually achieve them.

New Year’s Resolutions don’t work.

But do you know WHY they don’t work? I’ll tell you: It has nothing to do with the date you set, or even how much you think you want the goal. It usually has to do with how much work is involved in setting that resolution.

For example, the big joke among regular gym-goers is that you need to skip the gym during the first week of January because that’s when EVERYBODY goes. But after the first week, you can start going back again because only the serious people remain.

“It’s Easy to Start but to keep consistent and get to your goal is where people fail.”

Unless you’re one of the rare 8% who actually achieves your resolutions, stop wasting time setting goals and resolutions if you’re not willing to do the work.

Does that mean you should just carry on like normal and treat January 1 the same as every other day of the year? Heck no. Let me show you what I do (and what you should do instead). This is very powerful and you’ll see in a moment how life-changing it can be…

In fact, I don’t believe you should treat ANY day like normal! We can (and should) live each day to the fullest, maximizing what we get out of life. After all, we only have one life to live so let’s make the most of it. (I’ll bet the 8% who are making resolutions and keeping them have BIG things going on in life).

HERE’S THE ONE QUESTION I ALWAYS ASK MYSELF…

Stop making resolutions… start asking yourself this 1 question...

At the beginning of the year (and, actually, throughout the year too) I ask myself one question: “What can I add into my life or business to grow it so I can have more time?”

Let me break this down for you...

“What can I add…” – Notice how I ask what I can ADD. Most people spend their time trying to figure out how to take away, how to spend less, how to do less. They’re busy cutting expenses and pinching pennies. Hey, I’m all for spending wisely but I rarely do anything to cut expenses (unless it’s an obvious waste that doesn’t contribute to my business or life). Instead, I’m looking for things I can add. For example, I constantly try to figure out how to add more relationships (and better relationships), more team members, more opportunities, more deals, more streams of income. I want more because more helps you grow.

“… into my life or business…” – I ask this question about both my life and my business. I mention both of those things because they’re related. I build a business using systems and a team so that I can have more time to do what I want. Too many people try to separate “work and life” or strike some kind of balance. But not me. I want to build total imbalance: a business that requires almost NO work on my part so I can spend more time on the non-business portion of my life.

“... to grow it so I can have more time?” – This is what it’s all about. Growth for time. If it’s not growing then I’m at risk of allowing my business and life to stagnate, so I want them to grow: I want to build each so I leave a powerful legacy that will impact future generations. And right now, I want more time – because time is the real measure of wealth. (Too many small-minded people think MONEY is the measure of wealth but it’s not… TIME is and that’s what money buys you). Time allows you to do the things you want and need to do. Want to focus on your health? Time allows you to go to the gym, do yoga, etc.

As you can see, this is a powerful question that is full of deeper meaning. When I ask it and then think carefully about the answer, I always come up with a big list of exciting strategies and ideas that will contribute to my life and the lives of those around me.

But I don’t just stop there (because if I did, nothing would happen)…

BE SURE TO ASK THESE 2 FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

If you just ask and answer the question, you’d be no better off than if you make New Year’s resolutions. Simply put, the answer itself to the question above will only reveal what needs to happen. Now you need to go one layer deeper to know what to do…

So there’s a follow-up question I always ask: “What needs to be in place or what do I need to build or invest in, in order to achieve that plan?”

This is huge. And the answer will be your to-do list for the coming year. In fact, I ask this question WEEKLY (and so should you).

I’ll use an example to illustrate. Let’s say you’ve asked the first question:

“What can I add into my life or business to grow it so I can have more time?” And you decide that you want to meet more people to grow your network.

Cool. Now you ask yourself the follow-up question…

“What needs to be in place or what do I need to build or invest in, in order to achieve that plan?” The answers turn into your to-do list. In this example, let’s say you want the following:

• Something of value to give to people (i.e. a book or a valuable piece of information)
• A way to build relationships (i.e. an email management system)
• A plan so that he relationship has somewhere to go
• A “channel” or “vehicle” to actually meet people (i.e. a Real Estate Investing Association group or a Facebook page)

(Of course the real answer might be much longer and more detailed but this is good enough for an example).

Now that you’ve asked the first and second question, you have a list of things to implement to achieve that bigger network.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I ASK THESE QUESTIONS…

In my life, I ask this question and the follow-up question all the time (at the beginning of the year and throughout the year as well) and the answers often include building systems and building a team.

In fact, my team is growing all the time and THEY’RE implementing systems to grow even more. The result? My business is growing bigger and bigger and, at the same time, it’s requiring less and less of my attention.

… Giving me more time to spend with Deena and Mark III.

SOMETHING POWERFUL HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK THESE QUESTIONS...

When you ask these questions, something very powerful happens.

You ask BETTER QUESTIONS (questions that really matter) and you discover BETTER ANSWERS (answers that lead to life-changing activities).

You’ll discover powerful strategies and actions to do more this next year than you’ve done in previous years – to help others, to build a legacy, to do more deals, to create more cash flow, and to grow your business and life to a greater degree than ever before.

Your friend and mentor

Mark Evans DM,DN

PS, Head over to my page on Facebook and tell me what the answer is to this question when YOU ask it for your life and business!