It’s that time of year again where many of us our making New Year’s resolutions! Do you remember what you said you were going to do last year?   Were you successful at accomplishing what you set out to do? Or like many did you give up after the first few weeks or month?

I have the awesome privilege of helping dental teams nationwide cultivate a happier, healthier and higher performing culture. I utilize the R.I.S.E. Process (a 4 step process) to help them not only create but also sustain their improved culture results. I have found the same process works awesome for achieving individual goals as well!

R.I.S.E. is an acronym for Review, Implement, Sustain and Evaluate. So here is how to apply my four step R.I.S.E. Process to succeed at sustaining your 2017 resolutions.

R is for Review!

Review your core business values. What 4 words in order of priority describe your business core values and purpose? Would other people be able to recognize those values in you? For example, my 4 core words in order of priority are: Lifter, Authentic, Happy, and Committed. If you don’t know what yours are stop reading and take some time to reflect. They are important to know because they will help guide you in your decision making. They also will help you know who you want to show up as every day. Ask yourself, where you are now and where you would like to grow that supports your standards.

Change this year’s resolutions from goal focus to growth focus. Growth is limitless…whereas goals have a ceiling. Once you reach your goal…you stop! Whereas we never stop growing. Decide where to focus growth to maximize your results.

This is not the time to go crazy and over commit! Set realistic growth challenges. We achieve more sustainable results when we under-commit and over-deliver! If you spread yourself to thin or set to lofty of goals you may become overwhelmed and give up out of frustration. Here is a little exercise for you. I would like you to raise your right hand as high as you can! Are you as high as you can go? Okay, now reach just ½ inch higher. Were you able to extend another ½ inch higher? If I would have asked you to try to touch the ceiling you would have given up knowing it was not possible. But instead I asked you to reach ½ inch higher; something that you believed you could actually achieve. Consistent little steps lead to success because small, consistent progress adds up really fast.

I is for Implement!

Define the implementation process by clarifying the following details: what, who, when, where, why and how.

• What area(s) do you want to grow? Prioritize if you have several areas. Start with the area that will make the biggest impact.
• Who can help you? Who is out their already successfully doing what you want to do? Who is a potential mentor? What books or blogs are available on the subject?
• When will you do it? It is important to actually schedule time to fit it in to your day, week, month, and year or it won’t happen.
• Where will you do it? Do you need a specific location to achieve the results you desire?
• Why will you do it? This is the most important part to successfully sustain growth. What is it that will motivate you to continue to do the new behavior when you don’t feel like it or you are pressed for time. It has to be a big enough why. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being high it must rate and 8 or above in value. Otherwise, the chances of you sustaining the new habit are greatly reduced.
• How will you do it? Clearly spell out the attitude, mindset and action steps will you need to take to be able to succeed.

S is for Sustain!

In order to sustain anything new it must become a habit. A habit forms in 18 to 254 days. The average is 66 days.  If we want to sustain the new behavior it will be necessary to commit to the new behavior for up to 8 months or until it becomes a habit and we can do it on auto-pilot. Once it is a habit we are no longer at the mercy of our emotions when making the decision of whether to do it or not. We don’t even think about it we just do it!  I have found a way to reduce temptation that gets in the way of my success. I have developed an agreement method to be consistent. I make an agreement with myself when I will do the new behavior before the time comes for me to make the decision.

For example: I have made an agreement with myself that I will not eat dessert when I am on the road traveling for work. When a host tries to entice me to eat their favorite dessert at their favorite restaurant I politely respond; “no thank you, I don’t eat dessert when I am on the road traveling for work.” This takes away having to make the decision and the temptation. Regardless of how awesome the dessert may actually be and my emotions at the time I can resist. I also know my strong WHY that rates a 10 in my book. I want to continue to be healthy and fit into my size 6 clothing!

Another agreement I have is that no matter how late I get in or how early I have to get up I always do a minimum of 15 minutes of sit-ups, stretches and Pilates exercises in the morning. I don’t have to take even a moment to decide if I will do it. I just do it. My WHY, I will feel better and have more strength and endurance throughout the day. I also realize that 15 more minutes of sleep will not be as beneficial as 15 minutes of sit-ups, stretches and Pilates exercises. The awesome part is the more consistent we are and the more we keep our agreements the easier it becomes. I have found for myself that 66 days is the magical time frame for a new habit to ingrain!

“Create habits to fit who you want to be!” ~ Judy Kay Mausolf

E is for Evaluate!

Our life, the people in our life and our circumstances continue to change. Therefore, it is necessary to take time during the year to reflect with self-diagnosis to evaluate our current results. Where are we in our growth process? What is working what has changed? What area would we benefit most if we pinpointed our focus? Sometimes what we thought would work doesn’t. That’s okay. Maybe, it’s time to try a new approach or a new path. There is more than one way to…! I’ll let you finish it. Look at all the brilliant people that failed many times before succeeding. Success is about perseverance not perfection.   Edison failed 1000 times before inventing the light bulb! I sure am glad he didn’t stop evaluating!

Implement the 4 step R.I.S.E. Process to help you R.I.S.E. to even greater success in 2017! Sky’s the limit!