I’m not sure if it’s the food coma or festive nostalgia but this time of year is a great time to reflect on what you have achieved over the last 12 months and what you want to achieve over the coming year. I think the most important thing to remember is to not only celebrate your success; but more importantly assess your failures. You learn more from failing than you do by succeeding. I believe we only truly lose from a situation when nothing is learned. We should not aim to be perfect but aspire to continue improve, get better.
So how do you set yourself up for success so 2019 can be your best year yet?
1. Disconnect to Reconnect
When we are busy doing we often don’t take the opportunity to reflect. This is why you should organise a regular brain break, I do so every 3 months. It doesn’t have to be a big lavish getaway, even escaping to a nice quiet place that you find solace for a weekend could be all the doctor ordered.
I also see too many people worried about others not coping in their absence and say they have to wait for the perfect time to get away. Reality is there is never a perfect time to go, you just need to make time to do it. In order for us to reconnect with our greater purpose and assess how we are going in achieving this we must disconnect. By taking a break from the day-to-day you are able to focus on the bigger picture of where you are and where you are heading.
2. Ask Yourself Some Questions
The basis of human psychology is our values drive our thoughts, our thoughts drive our actions and our actions drive our results. However there is often a disconnect between what we value and how we act.
To overcome this I start by writing down what it is I want to achieve in the next 5 years and in the next 12 months. I then reflect upon my actions and assess them based on the premise of Stop, Start, Continue.
- Stop: what are the habits and mindsets I have that are preventing me from achieving where I want to be?
- Start: what are some habits and mindsets I should adopt to get me closer to my goal?
- Continue: what am I doing well and need to continue doing in order to achieve my greater vision?
Celebrate all your successes, take time to yourself to reflect and learn from past experiences in order to become the best version of yourself.
