I’m writing this between Christmas and New Year. If you’re reading this soon after I post it, I hope you had a good Christmas break.

The next “countdown” is the New Year which is only a few days away.

Whether you see the New Year in or sleep it in (my preferred method but maybe that’s showing my age), it’s a time of year where lots of people make resolutions and decide that “this year is going to be different”.

So if you’re in self help, weight loss or make money niches, it’s a great time of year for sales.

People buy the things they think they’ll need to make the coming twelve months better in whatever ways they think will work for them.

Of course, like all long projects, most fall by the wayside.

If that’s been you in the past, is 2017 time to change that?

Personally, I cope reasonably well with long term projects. But I mix in shorter term things as well – otherwise the end goal never seems to get any closer. The shorter term things help keep my interest and move me towards the bigger goal.

That’s especially important with internet marketing. Quick fixes rarely do much, always assuming that they work at all.

I’d suggest that you keep your resolutions for the new year simple. It’s easier to focus on a small number of things than it is to try to focus on tens or hundreds.

Aim for one reasonably long term goal – maybe something like getting to a certain number of dollars per month by the end of the year.

And then pick one short term goal – something that can be over and done with in a month at most.

Why a month?

Because that’s likely how long you’ll be able to truly focus on the thing. If you know from experience that time is a bit longer or a bit shorter, feel free to adjust it. But don’t try to fool yourself that you’ll be able to keep it top of mind for several months. That’s highly unlikely to be the case.

Then go old school.

Write or print out your short term goal and put it in sight. Stick it on the wall behind your computer screen, put another copy on the bedroom door and another next to your alarm clock. Change the screen saver on your regular devices to show it.

Make it so that your new goal is everywhere you look so you’ve got a constant reminder about it.

Then decide on a daily pattern that will take you closer to that goal.

For me, it’s back to writing an email and blog post first thing. Because – for me – first thing usually happens reasonably undisturbed. There’s less time to get distracted and less things to get distracted about, especially if I ignore emails and Facebook until I’ve written the content.

If last thing at night works for you, go for that. Just be sure you’re not fooling yourself and that you don’t use the “I’m too tired” excuse.

Whatever time of day that you can regularly devote to your internet marketing business, treat it as though it’s an appointment with someone important. Because it is.

Go for it.

You can do this exercise at any time of the year, not just when the calendar flips over from one year to the next. So you can use it to reboot yourself.