At the stroke of midnight tonight, the New Year enters. What do you want 2009 to bring for you? Will you be making a New Year’s resolution? As someone who has broken many New Year’s resolutions (very quickly, too!), I’ll be taking sales trainer Joe Bonura’s advice this year and making a New Year Commitment, rather than a resolution. Here’s why:

”From now on, do not make any more New Year Resolutions (NYR); only make New Year Commitments (NYC),” says Bonura. “While a resolution is a firm decision to do something, a commitment is a devotion or dedication to a cause. Do you agree that dedicating yourself to DOING something is much more powerful than DECIDING to do it?”

It always works better if you take a systematic approach to making a New Year Commitment. Here is a great way to approach the task:

As Easy As One, Two, Three
1. Make a list of all your commitments for the coming year.
2. Go over the list and select the three most important ones that you will commit to doing.
3. Devise an action plan that includes tactics that will move you toward your goal. This includes how and when you will accomplish your goals.

Hold Your Feet to the Fire
Discuss your NYCs with an accountability partner who will hold your feet to the fire if you fail to move forward in achieving your commitments. Also stress to your accountability partner that you will not be upset with their honesty and resolve to have you reach your objectives.

Powerful Little Package
Write your three commitments on a 3x5 card, fold the card into a tight little package, and carry it with you everywhere you go. The card will serve as a constant reminder of your commitment for improvement.

Dream Your Way To Accomplishment
Every night before you retire, for each of your commitments, list something that you will do to move toward your goals. It is a task that takes less than five minutes, and if you do it before you turn-in for the night, your subconscious will take over while you sleep.

Make An Appointment With You
Make a calendar appointment with yourself once a week to do a gut-check on your progress toward accomplishing your NYCs. Put the appointment on the calendar and show up, just as you would for any appointment.

Party Time
Celebrate each time you accomplish a milestone on one of your NYCs. In other words, reward yourself for a stratagem or course well done.

Start Climbing
Enjoy the New Year, and make every day a rung on the ladder to the success that you will achieve.

Joe Bonura is known as a "real world" speaker who gives his audiences ideas they can apply immediately to increase sales and improve service. Bonura is also the author of “Throw the Rabbit: The Ultimate Approach to Three-Dimensional Selling.” Learn more at www.bonura.com

The SalesDog blog will be quiet tomorrow as we celebrate the New Year and write a few New Year Commitments of our own! We’ll see you Friday!