With the New Year comes a clean slate: a chance for change and Improvement.  

For many of you that will mean a new years resolution or two. If your resolutions require a certain degree of willpower, commitment, or persistence (such as quitting smoking, getting in shape, losing weight, making more money, learning to program or building your online business) then this method will help you to achieve your goals.

Now, to achieve big goals, the most important thing is to break those goals down into manageable steps. Then break down what you need to do into a daily tasks.

This system requires that you go out and buy a thick magic marker and one of those large calendars to hang on your wall where you will see it every day. Don't go thinking you're all clever and try to "make an app for it" or do it on Google calendar or Outlook. Just buy the damn calendar and marker. It's proven. It works.

Every day that you complete your tasks, you put an X on the calendar. Then after a few days you'll have a small chain of Xs on the calendar. Keep it up.

Don't break the chain.

You see, it's easy to do things one day at a time or one moment at a time. That's the secret of maintained willpower. As long as you don't break the chain today, you'll be fine (because tomorrow you can tell yourself the same thing).

Don't break the chain.

It's easy to have a "moment of weakness" without something like the chain there to remind you. If you skip one day, it's too easy to skip the next. So don't skip that first day!

Don't break that chain.

That attitude of "I don't need to work out today" or "I can have just one cigarette tonight" or "I don't need to build any links today" or "maybe I can go without Posting today" really feels stupid when you realize that you'd be breaking that long chain that you've worked so hard to build.

Don't break the chain.

Keep the chain going and your life improving habits will become a part of you. It's easy to accomplish your goals if you take them one day at a time. As long as you know what you need to do daily to achieve your goals (and you do it!) you can do just about anything you set your mind to.

Don't break the chain.

There are a thousand clichés or quotes I could throw in here like "slow and steady wins the race", "Every long journey begins with the first step" or "Nothing can take the place of persistence" and they're all true. People always tell you to be persistent, but they never tell you how. Now you know the how is easy. Just:

Don't break the chain.