By Emma MullingsMonday 6 Jan 2014Christian LivingReading Time: 3 minutes
Whether 2013 has been a fab year for you, or 2013 was a year you are more than happy to see the back of, here is some good news for you. It’s going to get better from here.
A new year gives us an opportunity to redefine our priorities.
A new year gives us the opportunity to redefine our purpose and ask whether or not we’re still on course for what we were born to do.
A new year gives us the opportunity to re-establish worthwhile goals – goals can be a waste of time if they don’t take you towards your vision, so don’t be afraid to scrub a few things off the list.
A new year also gives us the opportunity to bury the past and to move in to a future that we haven’t created yet. Leave your baggage in 2013. There is a reason your review mirror is smaller than your windscreen!
This is the year. You CAN make it happen, you CAN do it. Don’t worry if it’s your tenth attempt, life’s all about how you get back up when you’ve been knocked down, or fallen off the horse – even if that horse trampled on you and then threw up on you – brush yourself off, stand up and hold your head up high. No-one wants to die with potential and NOW is the perfect time to pen that audacious goals and dreams list for the year. So, here’s a few quick steps to set you up for a great year of goals achieved:
1. WRITE SOME GOALS
If you’re a goal writer like myself this may be easy for you, but there are a lot of people who find putting pen to paper a little challenging. First thing, grab yourself a journal (one without lines so you can get creative, stick pictures in and draw things unrestrained), take yourself away to a quiet place with your beverage of choice and goal away!
2. WRITE AN ACTION PLAN
Yep an action plan is what actually makes it happen. It’s all good to say you’re going to get fit, eat better, and get more sleep by the end of the year but HOW? Write it down. This could be “I’m going to join a gym, outside exercise class, find a gym with a creche for the kids, ban soft drink from the house, have one sugar in my coffee instead of two, set an alarm on my phone at 10pm reminding me to go to bed”..and so on. If you want a new job by the end of the year, why don’t you map out your pathway to getting there? You could start with registering for a correspondence course to upskill. If you gave yourself 6 months to do a course that will mean you’re in a better, more enjoyable job for the next 6 years it’s well worth the investment, right?
3. CREATE A TIME LINE for your action plan.
This is a little secret to making the action plan work. It’s all good to say “I’m going to do a night course, so I can apply for a promotion with confidence”, but if it gets to September and you haven’t even enquired about your course, you are in trouble. Write some dates next to your action plan of when you will achieve each item.
4. PUT YOUR LIST UP WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT
5. WHAT ARE YOUR NEW ‘CONSISTENCIES’ FOR THE YEAR
These are the day-by-day ‘insignificances’ that will undergird your action plans, like going to bed earlier, or getting up earlier. Add these to your goals list too and make sure they have their own action plan. It’s all about consistency.
Change is good for us! One step at a time. The pain of Change is nothing compared to the pain of staying the same for the next five years.
This is your year. I always say if you want things to be different, do something different. If you’ve never been a goal setter why not give it a go? Here’s to 2014 being your best year yet!
Read more on Emma’s Blog “Be Your Best You”.