Did you make a New Year's resolution this year? If not, it is highly possible that you have given up on the idea that it would make any difference. A recent survey by health.com and AOL revealed that only 12% of the people who made New Year's resolutions kept them, and less than 50% kept them for even two months!

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Whether you made one or not, I would like to suggest that it is not too late to make one or keep it for 2005 - and that there is great value in doing so. I love to read about successful people, and one thing most of them have in common is their persistence in setting goals - which is just another name for a New Year's resolution!

So here is a proposition for you. To paraphrase Stephen Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, name one thing you could accomplish this year that would make you feel better about yourself and your life. Whether it is losing weight (one of the most popular New Year's resolutions), learning a new skill (Have you always wanted to learn to speak Spanish?) or repairing a relationship with a friend or family member (Next year may be too late!), I would like to suggest you can use the same process we use to help our clients get organized - we call it The Productive Environment Process™. What is a "Productive Environment?" you may ask. It is a setting in which everything around you supports who you are, or who you want to be, so that you can accomplish your work and enjoy your life. In fact, why not make a Productive Environment one of your goals for 2005?

The Productive Environment Process is 5 steps:

1. Design your vision
2. Eliminate your obstacles
3. Commit your resources
4. Select your tools
5. Maintain your success

"Notice the common word in all 5 steps is "your" - it's all about YOU! Many people have spent their lives trying to figure out what other people want and or have given up on ever having what they want. In Bruce Wilkinson's book The Dream Giver, he purports that God gives all of us a dream - but many of us have buried it or given up on it. He mentioned his theory to a friend while they were sitting in a restaurant. His friend doubted the idea, so Wilkinson said, "Let's check it out." He looked at the waitress and said, "Did you ever have a dream?" She paused and looked wistfully in the air and said, "Oh yes, I always wanted to be a nurse." What have you always wanted?

Let's look at some examples at how you could apply The Productive Environment Process to your dream:

Design Your Vision
Whatever your New Year's resolution is, the first step is to have a clear idea of success. If you want to lose weight, what size would you wear, what would you look like, what would people say to you, what would you do that you cannot do now? If you want a new job, where would it be located, what kind of people would you work with, how would you spend your day, how much money would you make? If you have always wanted to write a book, what would it be about, who would you dedicate it to, who would read it, what would the cover look like. The more detailed you are with your vision, the more likely you are to get there! "If you can dream it, you can do it." is the sign at the entrance to the GE exhibit at Disney World.

Eliminate Your Obstacles
If your goal is to organize your office, and one of your obstacles is space, you have three choices: 1) Get rid of some things by tossing or giving them away, 2) Maximize the space you have with additional shelves, cupboard, etc. (More about that in the next step!), or 3) Store what you must keep in some other room or off-site. Sometimes your biggest obstacles can be the "naysayers." Recently I met a young woman who is determined to open a center for the homeless. It is a huge undertaking, and she is continually faced with people who tell her it is impossible, but her vision is God-given, and she refuses to give up!

Commit Your Resources
The most successful people in the world are those who are able to commandeer resources. Suppose you want to learn to speak a foreign language, but you think you don't have enough time. How much time do you spend commuting back and forth to work - or watching mindless television? Maybe your dream is to leave the corporate world and start a new business, but you don't have the money. One woman I know sold her house and moved into a small apartment, and used the money to buy the business of her dreams. My mother needed exercise, and her company offered a program where they would pay half of the cost. Who can help you?

Select Your Tools
Eighty percent of our consulting is helping people choose and get maximum value from the right tools. Many people think that buying the latest gadget will help them get organized, which is the same as saying that buying a piano will make you a pianist. I am continually amazed when I talk with Paper Tiger software users who have not begun to take advantage of all the features of the program, or all the ways they can use it to make their lives more productive. For example, if you are wasting time looking up user names and passwords for websites, or serial numbers for software, don't wait another day to create a location in Paper Tiger to store such information!

Maintain Your Success
There have been many articles in the press recently about how few people are able to maintain the "fad" diets. When you talk to people who have successfully learned to manage their weight, it inevitably includes a life style change. Stories of successful businesses always include stories of trial and error. One of my favorite pieces of entrepreneurial advice, "If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing enough!"

If we can help you accomplish your dream, we would be honored. And, by the way, if you want to maintain your success with organizing, don't forget to open The Paper Tiger whenever you are working at your desk!

Together We Are Better™