{"id":424,"date":"2019-01-16T17:46:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/?p=424"},"modified":"2019-01-16T17:46:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:46:58","slug":"its-not-just-about-2019-the-importance-of-long-term-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/its-not-just-about-2019-the-importance-of-long-term-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not Just About 2019: The Importance of Long-Term Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Fotolia_195055203_XS.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-426 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Fotolia_195055203_XS-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Fotolia_195055203_XS-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Fotolia_195055203_XS.jpg 424w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>A new year is upon us and that means you\u2019ve probably heard this question dozens of times: \u201cWhat is your New Year\u2019s resolution?\u201d Whether it\u2019s losing weight, organizing our homes, or finding a new job, our society is in love with making resolutions at the start of every New Year. But we\u2019re not so in love with keeping them. Only an estimated 8% of people keep their New Year\u2019s resolutions and those are only short-term goals! Ask someone the dreaded question, \u201cwhere do you see yourself in five years?\u201d and you\u2019ll likely be met with a little bit of fear and anxiety. Why are long-term goals daunting to so many? Are we doing ourselves a disservice in life by merely thinking short-term and not planning for years in the future? The short answer is \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What if you positioned this year differently and lived your life based on what you intend to do 3 or 5 years from now? Although you don\u2019t have a crystal ball and can\u2019t plan for what will happen in the future, you can <em>position<\/em> yourself to achieve the goals you have for your life. One key is how to view your goals: <strong>they\u2019re a means and not an end<\/strong>. Ask yourself the question, \u201cAm I merely <em>interested<\/em> in achieving these goals or am I truly <em>committed<\/em>?\u201d Commitment means there are no excuses and you\u2019re willing to do whatever it takes. Interest simply means there will be excuses and circumstances along the way telling you why you can\u2019t do something.<\/p>\n<p>True commitment means you\u2019re willing to put aside the idea that you\u2019re not in control of what happens in your own life. You\u2019re ready to live a consciously designed life based on the following principles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>YOU<\/strong> are in control of what happens to you; you are capable of positioning yourself and making a plan.<\/li>\n<li><strong>YOU<\/strong> have the ability to make things happen and won\u2019t let external circumstances derail your goals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>YOU<\/strong> are responsible for the choices you make.<\/li>\n<li><strong>YOU<\/strong> are willing to stay motivated and value your goals, even when life is difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The idea behind long-term goal planning is: <em>Don\u2019t just plant a tree, plant an orchard<\/em>. And don\u2019t view 2019 as just one year, but think of how you can begin writing your story for 2020, 2021, and even farther. We have some powerful activities that will help you and your team think beyond the typical New Year\u2019s resolutions and begin creating meaningful and attainable long-term goals. Call <strong>Leah M. Joppy and Associates<\/strong> at 301-670-0051 or email us at <a href=\"mailto:leah@lmja.com\">leah@lmja.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new year is upon us and that means you\u2019ve probably heard this question dozens of times: \u201cWhat is your New Year\u2019s resolution?\u201d Whether it\u2019s losing weight, organizing our homes, or finding a new job, our society is in love with making resolutions at the start of every New Year. But we\u2019re not so in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lmja.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}