Your best year yet?
I had a colleague who would always ask “are you on track for your best year yet?” and while I would be reluctant to reply “hell yes!” (self-doubt coupled with a desire to want to do better means best is usually a way off), it always made me think - what was missing and what to do differently.
Is this a time of reflection for you? Are you thinking about what you want more or less of in your life going forward? If so, here are some tips to help you succeed.
Write it down!
You’ll accomplish significantly more. Research from the Dominican University of California found you’re 50% more likely to achieve your written goals.
Even better, write down your goal as if you’ve already achieved it, with as much detail as possible. Our brains can’t distinguish between actual and imagined experiences, activating our subconscious mind to help us achieve our goals.
Action plan.
A wise friend once told me “a goal without a plan is nothing more than a dream”.
After you’ve written down your goal, set a timer for 5 minutes and brainstorm what action is required to make this a reality. You’ll intuitively know. And if you’re struggling keep saying to yourself “it's coming to me.” It will. And ease the pressure – don’t look too far into the future. Thinking you need to have all the answers at this stage can lead to overwhelm, procrastination, and doing nothing. Trust me on that one 😉.
Start small.
Really, really, small.
When I decided to do some resistance training (I wasn’t keen to start but knew I needed it), I began by adding just one exercise into my morning routine. Less than a minute of extra activity. There was just no excuse for not doing it. And then I added another, and another, and now I have a short 10-minute body-weight exercise routine that gets done.
I love this quote from James Clear, international best-selling author of Atomic Habits: “We often dismiss small changes because they don’t seem to matter very much in the moment…but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be”.
Get an accountability buddy.
If you want to give yourself the best chance of success share your weekly goal progress report with a friend. In the Dominican University study, those who sent weekly progress reports to a friend accomplished significantly more than those with either unwritten or written goals, completed action plans, or action plans shared with a friend.
I hope there’s something here for you to achieve your best year yet.
