The 2012 Formula for Success

If you want to make 2012 count as a year of success and achievement, you're going to have to do what others aren't doing - you're going to have stop thinking like everyone else is thinking. Standing out from the crowd starts with pretty much ignoring how the crowd is thinking and behaving. A mentor of mine in years past reminded me on a regular basis: "The masses are always wrong." Dave Ramsey, one of my favorite radio personalities, reminds his listeners: "Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses - the Joneses are broke."

Looking for a good New Year's Resolution? Here you go - stop believing everything you see and hear in the media and stop paying attention to the naysayers. Here's why - the two things you can absolutely control are your thinking and your behavior. Let's face it, whatever happens with the leadership in North Korea, or the turmoil in the Middle East, is out of your control. You can't change a thing that's going on in either of those countries.

Here's your formula for success in the year ahead: E+R=O

Event + Response = Outcome. This formula is based on the fact that the outcome of any event is not predicated on the event itself - but rather on our response to the event. And I'm not just talking about what's happening in other parts of the world. I'm talking about what's happening in your world.

Years ago, I taught time management for a company here in Phoenix. One of the principles we espoused was that time management was really event management - and everything is an event. Getting up in the morning is an event. Interacting with our family and friends, driving to work, shopping at the local grocery, are all events.

The outcome of each of those events will be determined by your response to the event as much as the event itself. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Your response will set the tone for your entire day. Does getting the kids ready for school in the morning feel like you're herding cats? Someone cut you off in traffic on your way to work? Does the person in front of you in the "15 items or less line" have a basket full of groceries? These are all events in which you have the ability to control the outcome.

Making 2012 a success will in large measure be the result of how you respond to the curve balls life throws at you. Solomon said: "There's nothing new under the sun." We all face similar challenges every single day. The issue isn't will we face these challenges but rather how we'll choose to respond to them.

We have absolute control of two things: how we think, and how we respond as a result of how we think. Start the year off making the resolution to control your thinking and your behavior in each event you face - and in doing so remember - EVERYTHING IS AN EVENT.