How Successful People Manage Goals

I don't particularly care for New Year's resolutions. I think they have been marginalized to the point of being a joke and they have a long history of being completely brushed off by February. That being said, I am a fan of setting goals and have been thinking a little on how successful people accomplish seemingly impossible things in their lives.

In Heidi Grant Halvorson's new book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently she discusses this very topic by analyzing the science and psychology behind character traits and actions of successful people throughout history. These practical nuggets of wisdom are helpful to anyone at any point in their career and are not bound to the December/January timeframe.

Here are the nine things successful people do differently. I won't waste your time by repeating the same information that is in the book, you should definitely check it out for yourself.

• Get Specific
• Seize the moment to act on your goals
• Know exactly how far you have left to go
• Be a realistic optimist
• Focus on getting better rather than being good
• Have grit
• Build your willpower muscle
• Don't tempt fate
• Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do

Personally, I think that the things Heidi outlines in her book are a nice compliment of SMART goals and provide a structure and higher level of detail around how to accomplish them.

If you are looking for a book to help you turn your New Year's resolution into something more meaningful and worthwhile, you could do worse than to check out Nine Things Successful People Do Differently.

Happy New Year.