Richard Branson’s Tips for Sticking to Your 2013 Resolutions

Everyone has their own method of accomplishing goals. Some use the SMART goals methodology as used in our app. I published a post a few days ago about setting one word or short phrase goals, such as “Love more” or “Forgiveness”, and incorporating your goal into your life as a recurring theme rather than a specific and measurable goal. Yesterday I posted a video from zenhabits where Tim Ferriss debated the pros and cons of setting goals.

Richard Branson, famous founder of the Virgin Group, has his advice on accomplishing goals: make lists. On January 3rd, he wrote a post on his blog about making lists and the top 10 ways that can help you stick to your 2013 resolutions. Here is the list:

1.     Write down every single idea you have, no matter how big or small
2.     Always carry a notebook
3.     Find a list method that works for you. Doodles, bullet-points, charts – what suits you best?
4.     Make a list of small, manageable tasks to complete every day
5.     Mark off every completed task – you’ll find making each tick very satisfying
6.     Make your goals measurable so you know if your plans are working
7.     Set far off, outlandish goals. What do you want to have achieved by 2020? How about 2050?
8.     Include personal goals in your lists, not just business
9.     Share your goals with others. You can help motivate each other further
10.     Celebrate your successes – then make new lists of new goal

Read Branson’s entire blog post here: Top 10 Tips for Making Lists

Much of what Branson recommends aligns with the SMART Goals App. Write down your goals, and include both personal and business goals. Break down your goals into measurable and manageable tasks. Mark of completed tasks. Share your goal with others, using Facebook, Twitter, and email. If you haven’t already checked out the SMART Goals app, you can do so on our website smartgoalsneverfail.com or on iTunes.

For something less fancy, we have another app in our arsenal called Notepad+ which is a simple note-taking app. Besides for just taking notes and making lists, there are some added features in the app such as the use of folders and titles for better organization, and the ability to easily send and backup notes to  Evernote and GoogleDocs. You can check out Notepad+ on iTunes here.