2 questions to ponder for 2016: What are your goals? What are your dreams?

Two questions to ponder as you read:

What are your goals?

What are your dreams?

This time of year many people make resolutions for the upcoming 12 months and we start seeing advertising promoting the “new year and new you.” While making resolutions can be good as it gets us thinking about what we want to accomplish during the upcoming year, they can also have a negative impact. There are people who feel a lot of negative pressure because of the constant resolution talk.

Personally, I do not make resolutions because in my experience there isn’t much thought behind them. When I have made resolutions there hasn’t been any action plan or commitment to them, which was setting myself up for failure. Instead, I set goals for the upcoming year and also create action plans for those goals. I generally have a few large goals — or a theme so-to-speak — and set smaller goals based off those.

I know some people that don’t make either resolutions or set goals because they believe that since they haven’t succeeded in the past there is no use in trying. While I understand the feeling of failure and rejection, it is my belief that those feelings can be used to motivate a person to continue. We shouldn’t let the fear of rejection or failure stop us from pursuing our dreams.

Setting goals for the upcoming year doesn’t have to involve moving mountains; we can start small by moving the proverbial molehill. Make the goal something that can be achieved … be realistic but bold. Many of us like to set hefty goals, which is good.

But let’s look at the ultimate goal and break it down into parts that are achievable. We feel a lot better knowing that we achieved the steps and are on our way to achieving the ultimate goal.

The other part of setting goals is to not let anyone talk you out of them. Remember nothing is impossible … we just may not have found a solution or way to do it yet. And pay no attention to naysayers. There will always be people who will tell us why we cannot achieve our goals, so let’s surround ourselves with positive, supportive people.

There are many stories of people who faced rejection or who faced failure prior to success. Some were even told that they were no good and didn’t belong in their industry. For example, J.K. Rowling, who created the wildly popular Harry Potter fantasy series, was rejected by 12 publishers prior to being accepted by Bloomsbury. Rowling was a single mother supporting her daughter and herself on welfare after a divorce prior to her first book being published. Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ first company failed miserably, but he kept at it eventually starting what is now the world’s largest software company. American icon Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because – they told him – that he lacked creativity. He then started a small animation company that failed, so the broke Disney moved to Hollywood where – after more criticism and failure – his first few films eventually became extremely popular and helped him launch his eventual empire.

And finally there is a lesser known man who was told by a high school administrator that he would not do much in life because of his background and because he lived in the projects. The teenage boy was seen as a nonconformist who would fail in life. That person has since earned a master’s degree and is building a multi-venture company with his wife. That man is me, and part of my motivation is the fact that I’m a scrapper who has achieved goals “against the odds” and has constantly proven naysayers wrong. I do not let others define my life, and neither should anyone. Like Rowling and Gates, my journey continues.

Part of achieving a goal and fulfilling a dream is to get a mentor; someone with experience who can help us along. Mentors will give constructive feedback – at least the good ones will – that will help us grow and really think about what we are doing. Mentors share their wisdom while considering the whole picture of who we are, our life circumstances, and our goals and dreams.

Another great thing about a mentor is that they are not naysayers, they are the people in our lives who know us and consider everything when giving their feedback. Our job is to listen and learn from their advice. Finding a mentor may be difficult, so we need to take advantage of their wisdom once they are in our lives.

Let’s make 2016 the year that we go for our dreams! Forget about the naysayers – let’s remove the word ‘can’t’ from our vocabulary and remember that anything is possible! And when someone refers to thinking outside of the box, imagine that there is no box. Let’s not restrict ourselves by putting boxes or other obstacles in the way…just go for it!

We need to stay positive because sometimes we’re it. When talking about our business, people sometimes remind me that 50% of businesses fail within the first year. I respond by telling the naysayers that those statistics mean that 50 percent of businesses make it past the first year, and that ours will be one of them. That usually does the trick. Another thing is to always remember that it is okay to fail – we just need to learn from our failures, make necessary changes, and move on. We also need to be persistent and keep our eyes on the prize because sometimes our goals often take a while to achieve – and sometimes they take longer than planned. Be ready and able to alter timelines and be flexible. In my experience these are the times when naysayers are especially vocal. We need to ignore the negativity – and as Walt Disney said – Keep moving forward.

Finally, don’t wait until “the time is right” because like New England weather, we never know what’ll happen and may miss opportunities. As James Victore said, “Too many of us are waiting to start.” James goes on to remind us to “Just start.” So whatever our goals, we need to ‘just start’ so we can begin our path to achieving them. I’m not advocating that people just up and quit their jobs or ignore their life responsibilities. What I am suggesting, however, is that we go for our goals and dreams and it is up to us how to arrange our lives to fulfill them. We just need to remember that we don’t know what’s coming or how our lives will be affected by things, so we need to be smart about our planning.

It is my hope that everyone works towards their goals and dreams during 2016 and that some or all of them are achieved. Remember that it can be done, we just have to take the first step; we need to start!

Have a safe, happy, and fun 2016! May it be a year in which we work toward and achieve our goals and dreams! Let’s start!

Forward Focus explores how entrepreneurship, innovation and ideas are changing the way we see and do things and how they can move us and our communities forward.