Keren Smedley 9th January 2017
New Year
Happy New Year!
It’s 2017 and many of us are sitting wondering what it will bring. Will it be more of the same? or new and different?
If life’s been tough we dream of a better one with a new start, better health, more money, more fun. If we’ve had a good year we hope for the same, often without counting our blessings. Being grateful for what we have is I believe the first step to feeling contented.
If you read any of the many self help books or talk to successful people they all say there is only one way to be successful and that is to have goals. Of course the goals can be very different but knowing where you want to go to is essential. If all we say is I want to be better, or wealthier, or fitter, without a real focus we’re likely to find ourselves hankering for something rather than actively pursuing our desires.
What often prevents us is that we know this in theory but have no idea how to go about it.
The first thing is to stop thinking that goals have to be big or something we can show off to others. They are in fact personal markers for us as to our achievements. It maybe to climb Everest, or it maybe to tidy our drawers so we have less clutter, both are of equal value.
The first step is to know why you want to do it. Is it a chore or something that you feel has to be done or is it a real passion? Will it help you to feel more fulfilled? If it doesn’t have a real pull, my hunch is you won’t achieve it.
Take a few minutes now (I know many of you will be saying to yourselves I don’t have time right now and that is the first step away from success). If that’s really true then set a time when you do, by the end of today, or tomorrow if it’s 11pm when you read this! It’s too easy to blame time or lack of it for putting things off. A colleague of mine reminded me of that today. I was discussing a new business idea and said I needed to wait until something else had finished before I started. She very gently queried how that was going to help me to achieve my goal and reminded me that putting things off just delays the start date not the process. A delayed start date can only take you further from your goal.
So get started now and write down the things that you’d really like in your life. Let your imagination go wild and put down all your desires. Now stand back and look at your sheet of paper. Now prioritise them and ditch the ones that with a second thought you don’t really want. Make sure that you have a variety: personal and professional if working, as well as leisure activities . These can be as varied as you like. Now write down next to it what you need to do and by when to achieve these.
Next step is a year planner. Computers are useful for this but if that’s not your style use a pen and pad and write into a year planner, the date you intend to achieve that goal and also all the markers on the way. Markers are smaller targets that are more easily achievable and each one leads to the goal.
If you follow this and allow yourself time to focus on your dreams and then follow the path to success I think you’ll have a pretty good 2017!
Best wishes from all of us at Experience Matters
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