Don’t you just love New Year’s? It’s like we wipe the slate clean and start all over again, even if its only in our heads. That being said it’s like a breath of fresh air that opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities. Anticipation of new beginnings does wonders for our mental state and gets us thinking positively right out of the gate.

New Year’s is also a time of self reflection and a look at the ledger from the prior year, undoubtedly some highlights and if you’re like me a few low lights…I guess that all part and parcel of the human condition.

It also allows us the opportunity to make some resolutions and if you’re like me, my resolutions are the commitments to myself and therefore of the utmost importance. Generally I don’t make many but the ones I do are often are very personal and much different than my business objectives.

For many of us our new year’s resolutions last a few days to perhaps a week, some even a month. We seem to be constantly telling ourselves that this year will be different and that our will power and resolve is somehow different than all previous years, until we realize its not. 🙂

Humans are funny creatures, even with all of our advanced brain power, level of consciousness and abilities yet we still play the game year in and year out.

So what are you committing to this year – both personally and professionally?  Will you have the stick-to-it-ivness to make it happen? Are they bold and without fear or just more of the same within your comfort zone?

Whether you call them resolutions or objectives is of no consequence as ultimately that are made up of the same underlying commitment and things that you deem important and worthwhile. My advice is to totally commit to yourself that you’re going to make it happen…whatever it may be…make it happen.  No one else is going to do it for you.

A couple of key things to remember:

  1. Keep it simple – distill it into a something simple, perhaps an acronym and commit by writing it down. Personally I write mine on sticky notes and post them in prominent positions around my house so that I’m constantly being reinforced. The bathroom, the refrigerator, definitely on my home computer and even on my mirror in my bedroom. Overkill you say??? Ha! No one achieved anything by doing it half assed… As I said you have to be all in. This plan, like every other is just a plan until you actually make it happen.
  2. Share you plan – nothing keeps you more focused than if you’ve told friends and those close to you what your plans are. You can’t do it alone…you need love and support to get through the inevitable moments when all seems lost. You will undoubtedly have moments where everything seems lost, these moments test our resolve and steel us but also provide the opportunity to see how far we’ve come when we ultimately succeed.
  3. Driven by passion – ultimately the only person you have to please is yourself but if you’re truly passionate about the objective and outcome of your goals then there will be nothing that will stand in your way. You will be singularly focused on the ultimate success. Finding small wins along the way will help you with the energy that you’re going to need to win in the long term.
  4. Whatever it takes – often you’ll need a “whatever it takes” mentality to succeed, obviously keeping within your values and guided by your moral compass but doing the things that others aren’t willing to do is the type of mentality that you’re going to need to be successful. Constant focus and sharpening of your skills, practicing all that you need to accomplish your goals will be of paramount important on your journey.
  5. Reflect and celebrate – once you’ve achieved your objective its important to reflect on how far you’ve come and the true nature of what you’ve accomplished, often we rush headlong onto the next thing instead of taking a little time to celebrate and savour the moment. As they say “you only live once”, so enjoy all that you made come true.

So the big question remains what are you going to do each and every day to make your dreams a reality?

Well, what are you waiting for?  After all these are fresh beginnings…  🙂

 

 

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