After toasting the New Year with friends and family, many business entrepreneurs and professionals look at the year ahead with high hopes and excitement.

Unfortunately, that hope quickly fizzles out along with our “resolutions” for the New Year.

It’s not news that New Year’s resolutions rarely stick. To escape the vicious cycle of fleeting resolutions, we have to open our psychology books and ask ourselves, “Why exactly do New Year’s resolutions so often fail?”

The answer is simple: They’re not specific, they’re unrealistic and they based on willpower, not systems.

Let’s break it down. Take for example a business owner or member of a sales team who wants to exponentially increase their sales and profit in 2016.

Unspecific. You want to make more sales this year, but have you quantified your goal? What is your specific target for sales per week? How many prospecting calls will you make a day to reach your goal? How many networking events will you attend to generate new leads? Without a specific plan; daily, weekly and monthly action steps; and measurable targets, you’ll just be winging it. And when you wing it, you inevitably fall short.

Unrealistic. Let’s say that last year you made a few sales calls a day, fitting them in between other tasks on your to-do list. This year you tell yourself that you’ll make sales calls for 3 consecutive hours every morning, before checking your email or responding to phone calls. Ask yourself, is that really a plan I can maintain for more than a day or two? For most people, the answer is NO. The danger of setting unrealistic goals is that if you aren’t able to stick to your goal, you’ll feel like you failed. When you feel like a failure, you’ll be more likely to throw in the towel altogether.

Based on willpower. The willpower you feel when New Year’s rolls around is usually short-lived. As time passes, you inevitably hit obstacles or fall into old patterns; that’s when the drive that motivated us to make resolutions to begin with can crumble. If there’s no plan in place to keep you on track to reach your goals, then you’re just dreaming.

Systems are designed to keep us on track when the inspiration runs low. When you stick to a proven system consistently, you’ll see results. Why? Because successful systems are designed and proven to yield results.

Arguably the worst thing about unspecific, unrealistic resolutions is that when they fail – and they generally do – we start losing trust and confidence in ourselves and our abilities. When we make resolutions year after year and don’t see results, we doubt whether we have what it takes to make it happen and start settling for the status quo.

At Celeste Giordano Coaching, we don’t believe in trial and fail guesswork. We use a proven system to help clients reach quantifiable goals in sales, business growth and personal development. The system is specific, realistic and designed to yield results when our tested and true strategies are employed week in and week out.

Yes, we teach the art of sales, but we also understand that there’s a science behind it. Our system allows committed sales teams and business entrepreneurs to tap into that system and generate real results today.

It’s early days of January 2016. Are you committed to take action to increase profitability this year? If you answered yes, then the time to set realistic, specific goals is NOW. Not tomorrow, and not in a few months when your resolution fails to materialize.

If you don’t want the willpower driving your resolution to fizzle out, commit to creating a step-by-step master plan that you can plug into day in and day out for the rest of the year. Learn fundamental basic and advanced strategies that will help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the actions you take to grow your sales, your skills and your business. Work with an accountability partner who will keep you honest and on track as you work toward reaching your goals. Regularly evaluate where you’re holding. If you identify weaknesses in your plan or approach, implement changes. Habitually reflecting on your progress will help keep you on course.

That’s the most effective way to make sure this year will be greater, more fulfilling and more profitable than the last.

Need help taking action, setting effective benchmarks, maintaining the right mindset and learning the sales strategies that will catapult your business this year? Expedite that process by joining the Silver Council Program today. Contact me at Celeste@celestegiordano.com for more information.

You can “Double Plus” your income this year. You just need to reach out, grab the opportunity and – most importantly – commit to taking smalls, concrete steps every day to make it a reality.

Wishing you a positive, productive and prosperous 2016.