Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans make resolutions to improve their lives for the coming year. But setting a goal and realizing it are two different animals: by mid-February, 80% of those well-intended goal-setters throw in the towel.
Which gets us thinking: what about the other 20%? What do these successful individuals do to meet and exceed their goals? And what can we do to help our customers meet theirs?
One effective goal-setting technique is to integrate your goals into every aspect of your life. That way, they become more relevant, which makes it easier to follow through. You may also find your main goal dovetails well with other goals in these different areas. This kind of alignment can offer powerful incentive for sticking with the program.
With this concept in mind, let’s take a look at the top five New Year’s resolutions Americans make, and see how they can be applied to your landscape.
5 Ways Your Landscape Can Help You Rock Your New Year’s Resolutions in 2018
Resolution #1: Improved Health
Good health is the foundation of a happy life. No wonder health and wellness concerns—from wanting to eat better, exercise more and lose weight, to quitting smoking or drinking less— top almost everyone’s New Year’s resolution lists.
Believe it or not, your landscape can help with many of these aspirations. A beautiful landscape isn’t just pretty; green spaces have positive effects on mood and human health.
If you manage a large campus or property, why not incorporate a fitness loop? A walking path around a pond or building is a welcome feature for employees and visitors alike. You can even turn a small space into a fitness garden with the addition of a few pieces of outdoor exercise equipment.
Your landscape can get healthier, too. Just as small changes make a big impact on our health, small improvements can make a big impact on your landscape. Small things like creating mulch rings around your trees, fertilizing your trees and shrubs, and aerating and overseeding your turf can make a big difference in how your landscape looks—and to how you feel when you look at it.
Resolution #2: Save Money
Both in business or in personal life, spending less and saving more are always popular resolutions.
It’s easy to think of saving money on your landscape by reducing services. However, investing wisely in your landscape actually saves more money in the long run. Fixing problems when they are small is less expensive than fixing problems when they are big. Services like monthly irrigation checks can find small leaks before they turn into huge water bills, and preventative pest/disease treatments for boxwoods and crabapple trees can protect your landscape from costly replacements.
Resolution #3: Show More Appreciation for Family and Friends
We all want to spend more time with our loved ones. Sometimes, though, it’s more about quality than quantity. While it’s not always possible to add more hours, we can always do more to make the hours we do have with them count.
How can a landscape improve the quality of relationships? Well maintained landscapes and green infrastructure are known to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, reduce the number of sick days, raise morale, and reduce crime rates. In short, good landscaping improves our quality of life both at home and at work.
Create a space that encourages people to interact both with your landscape and with each other. Walking paths, sitting areas, outdoor shelters, and tasteful lighting encourage healthful social activity. Encouraging your people to get out into green spaces will help accentuate the benefits these spaces offer.
Resolution #4: Volunteer
It’s human nature to want to help others, which is why so many people resolve each year to get more involved in their communities.
You can become a hero in your community by organizing a tree planting event on your property. Just working with Klausing Group helps serve local non-profit organizations through our 5% for the Community program.
Resolution #5: Get Organized
Who couldn’t benefit from being better organized? Whether it is cleaning the garage or keeping better financial records, good organization saves time and money. It also helps us feel better about ourselves.
Are you using Klausing Group’s Budget Management Tool yet? Work with your account manager to lay out a month-by-month plan for your landscape, and create a three year plan to wisely allocate your budget to maximize your landscape health. No matter what your other landscape goals may be, this one can help you achieve them faster and more efficiently.
What Are Your 2018 Landscape Resolutions?
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you achieve them!