New Year resolutions, catalysts to success
It is often vital to note that a New Year is not meant to serve as a catalyst for sweeping character changes. It is actually a time for people to reflect on their past year’s behavior and promise to make positive lifestyle changes.
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However, it could be intimidating when one’s list of New Year resolutions is as long as his/her holidays shopping list.
In addition to the post-holiday slumps, not being able to keep your resolutions by the first quarter often increases ones anxiety.
For the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IFS Financial Services, Mr Kojo Ohene-Kyei, making your resolutions realistic, is the surest way to keeping them throughout the year.
Taking his turn on the Springboard, Your Virtual University, on January 8, Mr Ohene-Kyei observed that it was increasingly significant for people to list out their commitments in order for them to be guided towards achieving them.
Touching on the importance of setting out commitments in the beginning of the year, he observed that failure for people to set a clear target or goal at the scratch of a journey meant that the person was bound to be unsuccessful at the end of the tunnel.
“Just like setting out to embark on a journey, you need a destination in mind.”
“That is the reason why, at the beginning of the year, we should script clearly what priorities we want to achieve and how we intend to achieve them,” he added.
Clear vision
He said for people to make progression in life, they needed to identify and think through their key callings as well as write them down to serve as a guide.
“It is equally important for us to think through our calling and make distinctive differences. This is because people are sometimes not really sure what they are called to do and this becomes worse if they fail to script them down,” he added.
He explained that writing one’s dreams makes it possible for the person to familiarise him/herself with the goals.
In order to build competence over time, Mr Ohene-Kyei observed that Ghanaian youth needed to master their targeted goals in order to ensure success.
Mastering involves setting goals and increasing the level of competence over a period of time.
He stated that people needed to build mastering over a period of time by systematically developing their competence and knowledge base.
In a quest to understand one’s calling, the financial consultant said it was crucial for every individual to identify a big goal that overrides any other objective.
He described assignment as a God-given purpose to which an individual wakes every morning and works to make a difference.
He urged people to either put much premium on their calling or have the needed courage to walkout.
Identifying an area
Mr Ohene-kyei said for example, if, the aim of a person was to be in the financial sector, the person would have to identify a specific area in there that he/she needs to master to be able to excel.
That, according to him is a prerequisite to the success of the individual in question.
He also advised people to properly reposition themselves in life to be able to learn from previous experiences either by themselves or other people.
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Touching on another commitment, he noted that one’s assignment must align with his or her channel in order to meet the stated goals at the end of the journey.
He also observed that it was increasingly crucial for every person to make the channel or the vehicle attractive to bring other people on board.
“But very often, people walk away from a company, for example, because they have not developed the emotional intelligence required to work with other people,” he said.
Inspiring others
Disagreeing with concerns that monetary issues was a major challenge preventing people from reaching their stated goals, Mr Ohene-Kyei indicated that it was important to properly document one’s vision in order to bring other people on board.
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He observed that accepting help from those who care and will listen often strengthens one’s resilience and ability to manage difficulty.
“But if you feel overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, it is equally important to seek professional advice,” he stated.