New Year New You, or Same Old Story?
Happy New Year, I hope 2015 was a great one for you and that 2016 will be even better. What are your plans for improving your life in 2016? Or are just content in just doing the same old thing day after day and getting the same results? You know that’s the definition of insanity right!
Most people including myself have been no different, use the new year as a time to write down their goals for the year. However what happens for most ( I am guilty of this as well) is that they write them down then they forget about them. Once you have written them, that’s a great 1st step accomplished. Now you must detail a plan for accomplishing them.
The reason that I am writing about this is because I want to make 2016 the best year ever and I want this for you as well. It really doesn’t matter if you want to quit smoking, lose weight, get in shape or pay off debt. The process is all pretty much the same.
Write down what you want to achieve as if you have already achieved it. This tricks your brain into thinking it’s possible. Do not doubt for one second that it can be done. If you do then you are as they say – toast. Review your goals morning and night. Keep them top of mind so you stay focused on what you want to accomplish. Break them down to tiny bite sized pieces and set mini daily goals that will lead you to achieving the bigger goal.
Jerry Seinfield has a great story about his approach to goal setting. He treats his daily actions as links on a chain. Where all he has to do is to stay consistent in his daily actions and that will bring him closer to his goals. Break from your success habits and you break the chain. If you want to write a book, commit to a small goal a writing a page a day, by the end of the year you will have 365! The same applies to paying off debt, getting in shape or learning a new language. A little goes a long way.
Consistency is the key. I just found 2 new apps for my iPhone that are helping me with my 2016 journey. The 1st is called “productive”- habit tracker. It does just that, gives you reminders to make sure that you do the little things that will lead you in the right direction. The 2nd one is called Pomodoro. It is based on breaking your productivity down to 25 minutes chunks of time with no distractions. None, zip, zero, nada. So this means no facebook, no instagram, twitter or playing or answering your phone. The goal for most people is to do 8 to 10 pomodor’s daily and you get a whole lot done.
I had forgotten that I had made a goal of writing a blog post till about 25 minutes ago, the reminder popped up, I set my timer and got to work. It also helps that I don’t like undone reminders on my phone.
So what ever your goal is, write it down, believe you can do it, take small consistent daily actions and you will get there. See you at the finish line.
Cheers,
Pat
P.S- Also here is a good book that I just stared reading. There is a lot of great idea’s there to jump start your progress to help you make 2016 the best year ever.
