GLOSS Issue 19 DEC 2014-JAN 2015 | Page 35

7 Strategies To Make 2015 The Best Year Of Your Life 1 “I don’t do resolutions,” my friend told me. “No-one ever keeps them so I just don’t see the point.” It’s not an uncommon attitude. Nor an unreasonable one when you look at the stats… 80% of people have broken their resolutions by the end of January. But while we can choose any day of the year to make a fresh start or begin a new habit, there’s something about the first day of the new year that calls us to think a little deeper about the future we aspire to live in to, what we really want for ourselves… and what we don’t! More connectedness; less conflict. More vitality; less lethargy. More security; less debt. More confidence; less doubt. More fun; less stress. More success; less struggle. The question is: what will it take? If you look at the happiest and more successful people you know (the former being a measure of the latter) you’ll often find they do things others don’t. They are clear about what they want, focused on getting it, prepared to challenge themselves and persistent when plans don’t work out. If you want to MAKE 2015 YOUR YEAR OF LIVING BRAVELY take time now to make a plan so you start strong and stay brave, no matter what. Know Your Big Why Change is difficult, even change for the better. If it wasn’t everyone would be changing those aspects of their relationships, finances, jobs, and health that pull them down day after day, year after year. The reason they don’t is because to change anything we have to give up the pay-off of sticking with the status quo. Emotional familiarity. Mental complacency. Physical comfort. Short-term gratification. Nothing is more powerful than a strong sense of purpose. So always connect your goals, ambitions and resolutions to things that fuel your sense of purpose and align with your deepest values. Doing so will help you to dig deeper and exit your comfort zone when the going gets tough and habitual ways of thinking and acting threaten to pull you back to the status quo and those well-worn excuses that keep it so fixed in place. 2 Focus! Aiming high is great, but deciding you want to run a mar athon, finish your MBA, change jobs, renovate your home, and write a book all in the next year can leave you bouncing about like Tigger on Red Bull, not quite sure which direction you are going. Instead, set yourself up for success by focusing on one major goal at a time, not twentyone. Distraction is a goal killer! So too is overwhelm and exhaustion. IMAGE