Get up and get moving. Don’t think. Do.
Don’t gently roll around the house from room to room like you have eternity. Move with purpose. Get a task done quickly. Then do another. Get some momentum going. If you do three quick things, enjoy the feeling of achievement.
Then do something that takes a bit longer. Stay focused. Don’t get distracted. Finish the job. Celebrate ????.
Then go for another thing. Build your habit of seeking critical things to do and then do them.
Got to the gym today? Celebrate ????
Kept to your diet? Celebrate ????
Completed the third big step in your project? Celebrate ????
What does Celebrate mean though? Well it can mean many things. It could mean you get 20 minutes outside walking in the sun. You could meet a friend for a coffee for 30 minutes. You could buy yourself a ticket to the latest film you’ve been wanting to see. Another option would be to have a relaxing bath this evening before bed.
The celebration will be dependent on you and what you value. Try to keep most celebrations to a low or no cost budget. That way you can have far more win celebrations which will help drive your motivation and delivery of outcomes.
As you plan ever greater milestones and goals, you can up the stakes for the final celebrations. Do keep them within your budget though.
At least once each week, you need to review your progress. You need to understand if you are getting the results you were after and if you are putting in the effort you said you would, should or needed to.
This is your brutal facts of reality moment.
No excuses. No reasons. Black and white. Yes or no. If you were supposed to go to the gym 3x in the last 5 days, did you? Yes or no? If yes, well done! If no, what will you do differently this week (Monday am to Sunday pm)? Perhaps go to the gym even earlier so other things don’t get in the way.
If you were supposed to read 10 pages of a book every night in the last 5 days, did you? Yes or no? If yes, congratulations! If no, what do you need to do differently on each of the next 7 days to ensure it happens consistently? Read when you wake up? Go to bed 30 minutes earlier and read then?
Whatever your goals are, Review your progress every week, ideally on the same day at the same time. Sunday evening is a good time for this. Make it part of your seven day success cycle as outlined in my book.
If you want to succeed or excel, pay someone to keep you accountable.
This is the magic of Weight Watchers, a job with a boss, a coach or even a parent (Though the pay is negligible).
Get someone who will actually push you and ignore your excuses and all attempts to stay stuck where you are.
You can try to do it on your own, but very few have that level of discipline.
Splurge. Set a budget for someone 5 minutes a day to get on your case. They can track your progress too. They can also help you see your own excuses for why you are not being disciplined. (Hint: you don’t want it bad enough to put the effort required in)
Do you want success or just someone to listen to why you can’t be bothered to fight hard for your own goals?
Every day in January, spend 1 hour clearing out a drawer, the left side of a cupboard or a shelf.
Donate, toss or use it. Clear out your life. Why do you have all this stuff? If it doesn’t bring you tremendous joy, make room for something that does – and that could just be uncluttered space.
If 1 hour every day doesn’t work for you, try to do it all across two separate, 8 hour days. Or, two hours, every other day. Make a firm and specific plan that works for you and then stick to it.
The decluttered space will be a joy to be in every day for the 11 remaining months of the year.
There is a ‘best-results’ formula or process for everything. You may know one process of the many that exist, but it might not deliver the best results.
Find people who have got better results than you have, learn their process and use it.
Keep finding people with better processes and improving your own. Inevitably you will be getting better results each time.
Try to enjoy this process of continual improvement as it can last a lifetime.
Start your grand improvements today. Do not say you’ll start tomorrow, Saturday or Monday. If you seriously want to make a change in a habit or behaviour, why would you put it off for a day or three?
Seriously, you either start right now or you’re not really that serious in the goal or its success.
It’s so easy to put things off. That just tells everyone you’re more talk than action. Instead, be an action and results type person. Start that today.
Will you feel exactly the same in 12 months? Or will you have actually done those things you wanted to do?
It’s all down to whether you really want them bad enough and you’re willing to do the work. And you are willing to sacrifice and let go of the current you to become the you you say you want to be.
Over to you!
Yesterday you were given a few things to do regarding 2024 and 2025. Did you do them? If not, put a date and time in the calendar right now to get this done over the next 3 days. Don’t let this opportunity get away from you.
Even if it is not perfect, start. Write on scrap paper if you have to. Book the time in if you didn’t do it.
If you did do it, congratulations! It’s great to review the year and remember all that you did in the last 12 months. It was probably more fulfilling than you thought it was.
Creating a dream / goal list for the future gets you excited about life and the years ahead. It’s a great thing to do.
Now go refine your work. Look over it again. Add bits you have thought more about. Re-read your words to get those great feelings of achievement and adventure. What an exciting year ahead!
If you haven’t already, get a notebook or even a piece of paper and do this today. Take 20 minutes and list out highlights of 2024, including what inspired you, what you achieved and what you loved. Set a timer for 20 minutes and write as fast as you can. You can also include challenges you overcame. Keep each idea short like a bullet point.
Then set your timer for another 20 minutes and try to write out up to 50 things you want to do, have, or be in 2025 and 2030. Write fast using the list you just made as an inspiring guide. Also use your most exciting ideas and imagination.
With this list of 50 things, decide which you want to achieve in 2025 and which might take longer like 2026 or 2030. Put the year you want to achieve the goal next to the goal itself.
Then gather up all the 2025 goals and decide which 5 are most important to you. With these five, write some greater detail around what the goal will look like once it is achieved.
Also write a list of next steps you will need to take to get closer to that goal.
Now put two dates next to each step so you know when you have to start and complete that step.
Now go work your plan!
