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Reset for a New Life, Not Just a New Year. Resolutions, in general, don't work. Change that.

By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Your goals in 2016 should be creating a better life for yourself and making more money -- but for many it's not.

Health and wellness were top priorities for U.S. consumers in 2015 according to data from a Nielsen survey, which highlighted how "staying fit and healthy" was the top resolution, coming in at 37 percent, followed closely by "lose weight" (32 percent). Based on the survey results, just a handful are throwing in the towel and not making any resolutions (16 percent).

As I read this, I was amazed that making more money wasn't even on the list. Apparently losing those extra pounds is more important to most than earning more income and ultimately achieving financial freedom. The truth is, resolutions, in general, don't work. How many times are you going to do this to yourself before you understand? While I am very enthusiastic about physical health, financial health should also be a top priority -- just not necessarily a resolution.

Related: 10 Valuable Lessons I Learned in 2015

2015 TOP 10 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Stay fit and healthy

37%

Lose weight

32%

Enjoy life to the fullest

28%

Spend less, save more

25%

Spend more time with family and friends

19%

Get organized

18%

Will not make any resolutions

16%

Learn something new/new hobby

14%

Travel more

14%

Read more

12%

Source: Nielsen

This year, reset for a new life, not just a new year. Have goals so inspiring that you are willing to give up other things you once found entertaining. At the age of 50, I realized I had been setting goals that were simply too small—too average.

Related: New Year's Resolutions? Here Are 7 Entrepreneurial Lessons for Your List.

The major reason most people are not creating the life they want is because they aren't creating the life they want. The goals they have set for themselves aren't their own goals; they are someone else's. No wonder they don't follow them up with any energy. Billionaire Mark Cuban says, "The only thing any entrepreneur, salesperson, or anyone in any position can control is their effort."

The only explanation for people not applying the right amount of effort is because their goals are too small. When you are excited, you use fear, effort, and energy. You only fail in life or business when you quit, and you only come up short when you don't exert the right amount of energy.

Your mom told you to be practical. Your dad told you to set attainable goals. Your teachers, excluding the exceptional one or two, enforced mundane orders of classroom conformity. This leaves the average American living from paycheck to paycheck. Your parents, teachers and peers were wrong and the New Years resolutions have never worked. Trade in your resolutions for goals that are unreasonable, unattainable and that stretch you beyond average and ordinary.

Take a few minutes and ask yourself these questions:

1. What thing have you always been passionate about and willing to do for no pay?

2. What would you be willing to travel across the state in order to talk to someone about?

3. Will your friends label you "crazy" for the pursuit of this goal?

Find that thing that you are obsessed with and then make that your life purpose, not just a simple resolution. Every extraordinary person you know was an ordinary person that became obsessed with some crazy, greater, unachievable goal—and refused to let go of it. That can be you.

Edison, Ford, Jobs and Disney merely refused to conform. They became obsessed with making the impossible possible. The "greats' did not stumble onto greatness, they simply refused to just go to work every day.

This is not the time for resolutions, small thinking, or to seek approval from your peers. Take this time to reset your life with massive goals that are consistent with the hidden potential you have been denying yourself. Great people do great things; not because they are great, but because they refuse to be average.

Regardless of your story, there is a greater potential in you. The greatest grief of your life will not be the loss of family members, friends or loved ones, but the loss of your own purpose.

Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Wealthy 2016. Let's crush it together.

Related: 4 Questions To Help Create Your New Year's Resolutions

Grant Cardone

International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

Grant Cardone is an internationally-renowned speaker on sales, leadership, real-estate investing, entrepreneurship and finance whose five privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $300 million.

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