It’s that time of the year when many of us are thinking about all the things that we didn’t achieve, more than giving ourselves credit for the things we did. So I want to give you my tips on how to make sure 2018 is your best year yet.
Keep it simple
Don’t try to change everything at once. If you decide to lose half your body weight, run your first marathon and marry Mr Right in 2018, you are likely to fall at the first hurdle.
Swap motivation for inspiration. Motivation itself implies that it's something we don't want to do. We don't need to feel motivated to go on holiday! We don't need to feel motivated to treat ourselves to a massage or a nice meal! So turn your motivation in to inspiration! What can you get excited about instead?
It's the little things that make all the difference
All that aside, if you really want to create a fulfilling life, you need to commit to small, daily success habits. These really are as simple as generating energy through exercise; prioritising quality sleep; meditation and mindfulness and reading personal development books.
It's understandable in today's "quick fix" society that this answer doesn't sit well with many. They just wan't a "blueprint" to follow. They want to achieve X in 30 days or Y in 7 steps.
NEWSFLASH
Results gained quickly often don't last. Why? Because you have not spent long enough developing the habits and the thoughts that will keep you at that level of success.
I've seen it hundred of times in my business. When I was a trainer I worked with lots of women who followed a regime for 12 weeks, lost weight and looked amazing and......... put it all back on again (and more).
I've seen women smash their first big income goal and.........go in to a frenzy about how they could do it next month; where they were getting their next clients from; become petrified of losing it!
All of this could have been avoided if they spent time thinking about the longer game.
Review, Review, Review
Whilst possibly the most simple step, this could also be the most challenging. We have to take a look at how did we get to where we are right now? What did we do that went well? What did we suck at? Where did we really not put the effort in?
Taking the time to go through this process is truly enlightening. Why? Because it makes you 100% responsible for your current situation. (FYI - if you are not ready to own that fact, you are not ready to make changes).
Decide to make some changes
Think about “scoring your life”. I like to split it in to 6 categories (see below). Simply rate each area out of 10 for the level of satisfaction you feel in that area. Then simply write down 2/3 things that you can start doing that will move your score toward 10. That’s as simple as your goal setting needs to be.
1. Love/Relationships
2. Career/Business
3. Finances
4. Health - mental, physical and emotional
5. Time/Freedom
6. Purpose/Passion
Learn to love mind mapping
One primary reason for overwhelm and anxiety is all of the "to-dos" being stuck in our head. So get them out. Break down your bigger goals with a mind map, writing down every step that you can take to make it happen.
Say for instance you want to lose weight in 2018. On your list could be: remove all “bad” food; make some menu plans; buy cook books; join a slimming club; design an exercise plan; set a monthly weight loss goal and so on.
Getting it all out of you head will not only reduce overwhelm but also make it visually very easy to see the order of steps.
Map it out
Now that you have decided where you can make changes and you’ve identified the steps you can take, all you need to do is map it out. Work backward from you big goals for 2018 and make “mini goals” for every 90 days. This gives you a chance to make sure you are on track and make any adjustments necessary. You will be blown away by how much more you can achieve when you follow a process like this. It really has the power to transform your life.