5 Steps to Start Strong
Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! Let’s talk about five steps to help you start strong in this new year. First and foremost, step number one is to get clear on your goals. This is so important. One of the things that I would recommend to help you get clear on your goals, is to do some brainstorming and take some time to jot down some things that come to mind when you think about what you enjoy, what gets you inspired and fired up, and the things that you’re passionate about. Think about what you want to achieve and what you want your life to look like a year from now. Where do you want to make an impact? Where do you want to feel some fulfillment? What really matters to you? And how can you tie that into your career goals, your personal goals, and just the things that you want to do in your life going into this new year.
Second, I want you to break down your goals. This is something that I think is so important to help you really tackle your goals without feeling too overwhelmed. It’s a great idea to start with your big goals that you’ve gotten really clear on, and then break those goals down into smaller, more attainable goals. A great way to do this is to essentially reverse engineer your big, audacious goals into smaller, more attainable steps that don’t feel so overwhelming and give you a place to start. When it comes to your goals, get clear on them, reverse engineer them and break them down into smaller steps that you can then tie to a timeline. This is really key as well. Some of the goals you have for the next 12 months, may be accomplished quickly. Others may take three months, and some of them may take the entire year. So get clear on those big goals you want to achieve, and then break them down so they are more attainable, and you feel ready to tackle those big exciting goals.
Third, use tools! Take advantage of the plethora of information, technology and tools that are out there. If you’re tech savvy and you want to use apps or digital calendars and planning tools, do it! There are so many amazing tools available. If you want to keep it old school and use a notebook or planner to plan out your days and weeks, and to keep track of your to do lists, do it. Use whatever tools work for you. Find them, embrace them and use them consistently to keep you on track. I have an old school planner, and I use apps and digital calendars. So use any and all the tools! One thing that I loved over the course of 2021 was using a tracker in my planner. Each month, there were five or six different categories of things that I wanted to personally focus on, whether that be reading every day, meditating, doing specific workouts, drinking enough water, or doing live videos, there’s so many different things that you may have goals around, personal or professional. I would update my tracker each month based on what my areas of focus were. I would put an X when I completed that activity on a given day, so that I could take a look back and see how consistent I was, or not consistent I was in certain areas, to help me either course correct or get motivated by my progress.
Number four, I want you to commit to daily action. It does not matter how small this daily action is, but what is critical is that you are taking daily action. If you miss a day, if you miss a couple days, don’t beat yourself up, just start again. Commit to even the smallest step every single day. I cannot tell you how much that consistent effort really compounds over time. So be consistent and commit to daily action.
Number five, this one is pretty simple, you need to start. Now that you’ve gotten clear on your goals, you’ve broken them down, you’ve found the tools to help you implement and stay on track, and you have committed to taking those daily actions to make it happen, you need to actually start taking those daily actions. Got get after it in 2022!
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