Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail
A new year is almost upon us. I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and has gotten to spend quality time with family and friends. I am having fun with my family and traveling a lot with them over the next few months.
For many of us, this is a time to set New Years goals or resolutions, the problem is they never usually work. Here is why.
Top 3 reasons New Years Resolutions fail
1. The goal we set is to big and we expect results to quickly and then we get discouraged and quit.
2. We are not serious about the goal.
3. We are not passionate enough about the resolution or goal we have set and therefor never get the motivation to start it.
How to succeed with your resolutions
1. Pick a goal you are passionate about! If it is losing weight don’t focus on the amount of weight, focus on all of the reasons it will be important to lose the weight (for example, extra years of life, improved self esteem, your will have more energy, your mate will find you more attractive, your clothes will fit better) you must tie emotion to the goal!!
2. Pick one or two big goals that are easy to track and focus on those goals .
3. Set up a reasonable way to track the goals over the next twelve months. If it is investing break it down to how much you must invest per day to reach your goal by the end of the year. if it is losing weight break it down to a weekly goal of weight loss and always weight yourself at the same time of day wearing the same clothes so you can get accurate measurements.
4. Be patient and give yourself some time to start to see results
5. Be very specific about the goal. Losing weight is not a goal, losing 20 lbs over the next 12 months at .38 lbs per week is a goal! It is also something you can measure as you go.
Happy New Year! Make it a great one!
I will be updating the practical blog regularly with tips about health, work, customer service, travel and other useful tips.
Why I am Quitting Facebook and Twitter
My publisher will think I am crazy but I have to practice what I preach. Effective in the next 48 hours I will be quitting Facebook and Twitter. Here are the top 10 reasons why.
- The time I have spent on Facebook and Twitter over the past 18 months would have been much better spent with my family or building my businesses.
- I don’t understand it… Admittedly I am technologically challenged.
- I have over 300 fans for my book The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living and less than 10 % have actually bought it or read it?
- I am always looking for ways to decrease my time on the computer not increase it. Hell, I struggle with returning email!
- It takes too much time to keep up with
- I really do not care what people are having for lunch, that your work day sucked or if you have a sick pet
- I have not really reconnected with anyone on a personal level (if you really want to get back in touch send me an email jim@garlandcommunication.com)
- It has not created any measurable value in my life
- I have over 500 “friends” many of which I have never met and do not know
- At the end of the day nobody really cares what we are doing, do they?
If you have bought my book and enjoyed it, please share it with others. If you have not bought my book, you should, or buy it for someone else as a gift. Please click here for the page at Amazon.
To contact me please email me at jim@garlandcommunication.com
Connect with me on linked in at www.linkedin.com/in/jimgarland1
To follow my blog click here: www.thepracticalblog.com
To visit my YouTube page click here: www.youtube.com/user/Jimgarlandbook
To visit my web sites click here: www.sharpdetails.com or www.thepracticalbook.com
Farwell, Merry Christmas, vote Republican, and buy my book (I promise this is the last attempt at self promotion)
From the Trunk of a Car to $3,500,000… – Jim Garland
Article by Devesh Dwivedi -Entrepreneur In Making
Today, we are going to talk to Jim Garland, who is an entrepreneur, business owner, author, professional speaker and business consultant. He started his first company Sharp Details, Inc. literally from the trunk of his car as a boat cleaning service in 1991. Today Sharp Details, Inc provides corporate aircraft cleaning and support services to fortune 100 and 500 companies, has 60 employees and produces $3,500,000 in annual revenue. But guess what? Jim also was an employee once, just like you so lets talk to him and find out how he broke out of the 9-5 jail?
DD: Jim, welcome & thanks for your time! Now, lets start, tell me who you are and what kind of corporate job were you at?
JG: My name is Jim Garland and I am a husband to my wonderful wife (high school sweet heart) and a father to our four great kids. I am an entrepreneur, author, and business consultant. I am the CEO of two companies, Sharp Details, Inc., a private and corporate aircraft cleaning and support company which started in the trunk of my car in 1991, and Garland Communication, LLC, which started in 2009. This second company promotes my book and provides small business consulting and seminars. I held two corporate jobs before moving out on my own. One job was selling office coffee services/supplies and the other was selling medical supplies. I did each for less than a year.
DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?
JG: I left my second corporate job because I could see that if I wanted to succeed on a large scale I would have to dedicate myself to my business venture full time. I also wanted to be in control of my own destiny and the only way this was possible was to go out on my own. I can remember sitting at my desk at my second corporate job, looking at the numbers I produced and then thinking, “There is no way I can do this for 40 more years, I have so much more to offer!” That was the day I gave my notice.
DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How were the initial days/months/challenges of the transition?
JG: When I stopped my day job I continued waiting tables at night, something I was already doing for extra income. My thought process was that I could wait tables at night 4-5 times per week and pursue my boat cleaning service during the day. In this way, money was coming in to pay the bills and I wouldn’t starve to death. I took the leap of faith; it had to work or I would be stuck waiting tables for the rest of my life!!
DD: What are your Top 5 (or more) tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?
JG: 1) Figure out what you are passionate about and find a way to turn that into a business. This way no matter how hard you have to work you will still love it.
2) Start the business while you still have a full time job.
3) Start it from home and on a shoestring so that you have very little capital exposure. Remember Bill Gates started Microsoft in his parent’s garage.
4) Plow every penny you make back into the business for the first 12-24 months to give it a good base of cash.
5) BE PATIENT!
6) Read the following books: Think and Grow Rich, The E-Myth , The Secret and How To Win Friends and Influence People. These will guide you along your journey.
DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?
JG: My original business, Barnacle Jim’s Boat Service that started in 1991 cleaning boats is now called Sharp Details, Inc. We are a $3,500,000 business with 60 employees from VA to CT and we clean corporate and private jets. I feel great about the business right now and I can see the economy and the private aviation industry start to come back. I have built a company that runs day to day with a management team in place. This has allowed me to spend more time with my wife and four kids and write my first book, “The Practical Guide To Exceptional Living”, which is now available on Amazon. I am enjoying my business more now and having more fun than I have had in the last 20 years.
DD: Wow Jim! What a great story! Thank you so much for sharing it with me and good luck with your company in the future. It seems your idea literally managed to take off!
JG: Thank you, Devesh, for having an interest in my story of becoming an entrepreneur. It’s great to know there is such an interest out there in what people like me have done with their otherwise boring 9to5 lives. Good luck in all you do.
DD: Well everyone, that was Jim Garland the entrepreneur, author, and business consultant. Please keep in mind the books he suggested, as well as his first book, “The Practical Guide To Exceptional Living”, which is currently available. It sounds like that read could do us all some good!
Christmas Gift Ideas
Christmas is just around the corner so I wanted to offer a helpful gift idea:
BOOKS!!
They are easy to order, easy to ship, and they can have a great impact on peoples lives who receive them.
Here are a few to consider:
The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living
It is inexpensive and an easy read and packed with great information about health, increasing your income and creating the life of your dreams. It is perfect gift for family members, friends, customers and employees. You can purchase it on Amazon (click here) or directly on my web site (click here) where you will receive discounts for multiple copies and free shipping.
The Four Hour Body (get it at Amazon by clicking here) by famed author Tim Ferris who wrote the international Best seller The Four Hour Work Week
The Alchemist (get it at Amazon by clicking here) by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. It has been hailed as a modern classic. The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.
Happy Holidays and have fun.
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