Remember how effective you are each week before going on holiday? You delegate tasks, complete projects, prepare the family, the suitcases, insurance, flights and so on.
You manage to do this with a little less sleep and presumeably a lot more stress. However, you don’t show it.
Try to be that whirlwind for more weeks of the year. Imagine what you could accomplish at that pace!
Time to sit down for 1-2 days and purge all non- essential paperwork, files, magazines, bills, statements, clothes, dishes/cookware, books and nik naks.
It’s amazing how much the average person keeps in drawers, piles, cupboards and filing cabinets.
Take a day or two now and really hammer at it. Take photos of key docs and assign the photo to a folder and/or capture key information in your contacts app or Notes.
Then keep all new potential clutter out of the house. Don’t let it build up. Be merciless.
And get rid of all the part-done projects and going-to-do items. You’re not. You’re not going to do them. It’s just not that important to you, nor is it enjoyable. If it was either of those, you’d have done them already.
Book in a full day or two now. Purge!!!
Have a vision of your future. Have three if you find it hard to decide. Then make progress on your vision (s) every day.
Practice getting up early and leaving home early so you can also practice arriving early. Get documents sorted early and your taxes. Make your millions early too! That way you should have lots of time to spend it too.
When you need to finish something, get it done first. Do not delay. Do not do other easier things first. Take a deep breath, open the tougher, longer, most important item and get that done. You’ll feel better after (maybe not initially) and you can then speed through the other items.
When you have work to do, work swiftly. Stay focused on the task at hand and get things done quickly. It’s efficient and you’ll feel better about getting it down without dilly-dallying.
I assume most people want to know how things end. Some people read the last chapter first just to get it over with. Some people plan well, including the end.
The end of a holiday is often a bit anti climatic for me as you often have to find your things and pack your bag, get to the airport and/or drive home. Life can be a bit like that too. The first and last 10% is often not hugely memorable. The 80% in the middle, though… there’s the beef!
So live it up and enjoy but also pack the day before so you’re not stuck doing that in those precious final moments that you’re savouring and wish never had to end.
This is not easy. It is simple but not easy. You need to refine your goals and get very clear about what you are aiming for. Then you need a clear timeline and plan to achieve them. The more precision you add now, the higher the probability of hitting your targets!
My book, Achieve Anything, could not be better value on Amazon in the UK. Go take a look. For a couple of £s you can learn more about goal planning and taking your life up a notch or two in 2024!
Making decisions is what propels you forward. In a way, decisions are like swimming strokes. With each stretch and push you thrust forward until the next one. If you stop making decisions, like stop making strokes, you will coast, slow and then stop progressing forward.
So make more decisions. Make the decisions as quickly as you can. Though be intentional in your decisions just like you would be with an Olympic stroke. You wouldn’t go out just flailing in the pool. So gather your information and make focused, strong and meaningful decisions.
