Happy New Year 2014!!

As we begin 2014 we turn the calendar use the occasion to set some goals as we resolve to improve various areas of our lives.  At the New Year party I attended I joked about the perfect resolution.  Resolve to be a little worse.  If you do fail, you succeed and if you actually improve, well you shouldn't complain about that.   Fortunately we can achieve our resolutions and avoid failure when we plan with purpose.

When any plan fails there are usually three reasons for the failure. The first is inadequate resources.  Example:  If we resolve to get out of debt but our debt exceeds our income, it does not matter how much we want to get out of debt, we will fail because our outcome lies out of the reach of our means.

Second, we can fail because of a lack of willpower or follow through.  The classic examples here comes in the form of dieting and exercise resolutions.  Donuts and chocolate are significant hurdles that erode our desire to achieve a healthy weight and maintain a vigorous lifestyle.   But temperature variation, inclement weather, inconvenience and time all present shadow fall guys to our own true desire or willpower.

But perhaps the most important reason that a plan may fail is an inappropriate assessment in our planning.  As part of my job, I have researched the issue of factors that lead to improved likelihood of success in substance abuse treatment.  I regularly found experts whose research confirmed that the number one factor in determining whether the intervention would be successful was the quality of the assessment.

Simply explained, an assessment determines the level, scope and intensity of the intervention.  If an assessment is inaccurate it will result in either too much or too little recovery measures.  If the steps taken are insufficient because of an erroneous assessment, by definition there will be a failure to achieve change because the remedy is inadequate for the problem.

In like manner, especially in areas of addictive behavior, too much intervention often places the individual in a community where they experience more extreme behavior than their original problem.  This is problematic because other research demonstrates that when you mix populations of substance abusers, the lesser addicts tend to become greater addicts rather than the lesser addicts helping the greater addicts reduce their addiction.

But even when we move out of the realm of addiction, too much effort for too little of a problem at best is a complete waste of resources.  It's kind of like spending $50 to earn $10.  If your goal had been to earn $10 you could say you achieved the goal, but a hollow victory that would be.


So take a look at how you assessed your resolutions.  Did you do so effectively? If not, even though it may require resetting resolutions that you have already made, or even broken, it is worth it to plan with a purpose rather than resolve with a wish.

Happy planning for 2014!