I happen to be participating in an e-mail challenge and last week’s message was focused on persistence in achieving your goals.  I would like to share it with you and thank my co-worker Marilyn Rabe from OSU Extension in Franklin County for writing it. 

Have you ever admired someone who always seems on top of things? Someone who always completes every project they start and do it well?  Well, you can be that person!

One trait that many accomplished people attribute their success to is the ability to persist towards a goal. Whether that goal is eating healthy, moving more, saving money, or completing a project at home or work, persistence can be the key!

However, this is not always easy. Let’s think about the steps that you need to take to successfully change a behavior or reach a goal.

•             Establish a plan and then stick to it. You have to learn to ignore outside influences that try to distract you from your goal.

o             Try one goal at a time.  If you try to make too many changes at once you could be overwhelmed and set yourself up for failure.

•             Make your goals very specific – plan to eat one piece of fruit each day at lunch rather than say I’m going to eat more fruit.

o             Create an environment for success. If eating fruit is your goal, remember to stock your refrigerator with plenty of fresh fruit and take some with you to work each day.

•             Goals that are positive and self-motivated are much more likely to succeed.

o             Saying that you are NOT going to do something is usually less successful than deciding that you ARE going to make a change! 

•             Recognize that there will be setbacks.  Don’t give up. 

o             Take a look at your goal again and make sure that it is what you really want to do – that it’s not something that someone else told you that you should do!

•             Remind yourself why you have set this goal and keep PERSISTING!

As we finally get to enjoy spring weather, I hope that this message may motivate and inspire you as it did me.  Set yourself up for success whether it’s changing eating habits, increasing activity, planning for retirement or taking on new responsibilities.  Life can be a wonderful journey.  Our choices and actions can help us or deter us from where we want to go.  Pick one goal to focus on for the month of May and make it a habit, then add another on.  Seldom do we accomplish things in life by chance, use the motivation you have today to make something that you really want in life to happen.  Persistence is the key to success.  As Colin Powell said, “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.”

As a final note, if Home Ownership is a goal you are working towards, please join us for the class series that begins this evening at the Extension Office.  Please call 330-264-8722 for more details.