Did you set yourself goals for the year?
New Year Resolutions?
How many of your goals are you still on track for?
How many have fallen by the wayside?
Trouble is you were probably off work and in the post-Christmas period of euphoria when everything seems possible. Whatever you decide to do, you can get on with as there are few constraints on your time! There are no work pressures. There's no daily influx of e-mails as most other people are off work too!
Yes, it is easy to convince yourself you can do something, achieve stuff, at a time when you are free to do pretty much whatever you want.
But that all changes when you get back to work, get back to the pre-Christmas routine. And it is scary how quickly 'business as usual' kicks in and all the things you thought about over Christmas now fade into the past. What seemed a great idea has had to drop into your priority list and may well be so way off you don't even think about it.
Yes, within days you fail! You give up on your goals, your resolutions.
Then, at the next opportunity when you get a little time to yourself, normally Easter, you remember some of the stuff you considered over Christmas and wish you had kept working toward them.
Well, you know what?
You don't have to wait for the New Year to make resolutions!
You can resolve to do something any time of the year!
But, there is only ONE time you can resolve to do something. That time is NOW!
It's not yesterday. It's not tomorrow. Or the next day.
Whatever you want to achieve, whether related to work, social, health, fitness, new business, the time to start is now.
Whatever it is you want to achieve you must prioritise your life to fit this stuff in at the top of the list.
I decided this year that I wanted to write e-books. I've been wanting to write them for the past 12 months and was always going to start on them tomorrow! Guess what, tomorrow never arrived!
So, at the beginning of this year, I decided to do it. Not to worry about getting stuff 100% in place but to just get on and do it. I got myself a publisher in New York (I live in the UK) and I've now written eight books and seen the first published online this week.
Writing has not been easy. I had to set time by at the weekend to write. Unfortunately, I find it easier to write them in longhand so have then had to 'type them up'. But I get real satisfaction out of completing one and getting it off by email. Oh, and I am writing this piece direct into Word on my tablet - I decided I had to streamline my writing so with some effort I am saving time.
It takes effort, it takes commitment, it takes giving up on other stuff that's less important.
But if you stick to it, schedule time for whatever it is you want to achieve, then you will achieve it.
But you must make the effort!
Things will not 'just happen' without you making them happen.
I think it was Tom Peters, probably in 'In Search of Excellence', who said if you want to be a world class chef then you must start now, today, this very moment. It is a journey that must be started by you, otherwise, it just will not happen. Nothing will happen on its own - you must be the catalyst to make things occur. To keep moving forward and to find new opportunities.
Going back the question I posed at the beginning - how is 2017 working out for you?
Is it going well? Is it going as you expected? Are you achieving the things you wanted?
If it is not going well, then why? What can you do to change the way the year is going? Whatever you decide you must make those changes now, today.
If the year is not going as you expected, is the way it is going better or worse than you expected? If it is going better than expected just keep doing whatever it is you've been doing. Whatever it is the chances are it right. So, keep doing it and keep doing more of it.
If you are not achieving the things you wanted then make changes now, today! Be disruptive. Decide what must change to achieve what you want and change it today. Remove negativity from your life.
Please don't wait for the next weekend, the next bank holiday, the next whatever! That is just putting stuff off. You are cheating yourself out of valuable time.
Time is something that only exists in the moment.
Blink and it's gone.
So, do please consider where you are in comparison to where you wanted to be. Think about the stuff you are passionate about.
And make it happen today.