A new year presents us with powerful opportunities to re-invent ourselves, to redesign our
lives and to unlock our potential.
Your best self and your best life is created one small decision and one new habit at a time.
The festive season is a good time to evaluate our lives, our priorities and our goals. It is a great time to look at the past year and see what worked and made us happy, and what we need to change in the new year to make the progress we desire.
We must set a clear intention for the coming year and strengthen our conviction to close the gap between where we are today and where we want to be in 12 months time.
Implementing Change
The key to implementing change in our lives is to hold a clear picture of a potential future reality in our mind and then commit to taking focused, disciplined action. We must embrace new habits and become intentional with our thoughts, our feelings and our actions.
Everything in your life today is a result of your past thoughts, your past feelings and your past actions. You’ve got to this point in your life through a series of decisions you have made. If you want the results in your life to change, you have to change. On the other hand, unless you start doing things differently, you will continue to get the same results.
Jim Rohn shares valuable Wisdom on this topic…
To make change in our lives requires strong intention, deep focus and powerful discipline.
Here is a useful 5 Step Framework to guide you to prepare to live “your best life” in the new year:
STEP 1 – KNOW what you want
What does your best life look like? Can you define it with clarity, honesty and courage? Can you write it down with a pen on paper?
Only 2 out of 100 people know exactly what they want from life and therefore 98% of people are reacting to the environment, instead of intentionally taking the necessary steps towards what they want. Unless you define what you want, you will continue to automatically repeat yesterday.
Think about your ideal life some time in the future and write down what it looks like. Define what Success looks like to you – is it happiness, freedom, wealth, health, adventure, peace of mind? What must you do to create this success in your life? Take the time to write down what you want from life. It is not easy to do, that is why so few people do it. But if you can set aside some time on a Sunday morning, somewhere quiet, with a notebook or a diary and a cup of tea or coffee, the thoughts will begin to flow.
STEP 2 – BELIEVE you can have it
Self belief, self confidence and faith are powerful positive emotions that unlock energy and stimulate motivation – two of the most powerful tools we need to create our best life.
We don’t get belief, we generate belief, based on how we are managing our focus, our thoughts and our feelings. Use positive affirmations (which are positive statements that we say to ourselves over and over again) to build your self belief, build your self confidence and strengthen your intention.
Say statements to yourself like….”I can achieve anything I put my mind to”, and…. “I am creating by best life every day”, and….”I achieve all of my goals”, and….”Everthing is working FOR me”… and many more. The more often we say positive statements to ourselves, the more we strengthen our self belief.
STEP 3 – SEE it in your mind
In order to change your current reality, you must learn to take your mind into the future.
To create a better life, you must consciously and intentionally hold a clear picture of your desired future in your mind. See yourself living the life that you want – your ideal job, your home, your relationships, wealth, health, spirituality, adventure. Collect pictures of what you want your future to look like… visualise yourself living in this future and feel the happiness, gratitude and sense of achievement. These pictures, thoughts and feelings will begin to influence your daily decisions and your daily actions.
STEP 4 – SET your Milestones
What do you need to do to close the gaps in your life? What actions must you take?
Set the steps of WHAT must be done. Think carefully and choose “1 Big Goal” to achieve in the new year – what 1 big thing do you need to achieve to move your life forward… and write this down with a pen on paper.
One important point to remember with goal setting is to think about WHAT first. If you knew HOW to achieve your goals, you would have achieved them already. Choose WHAT you want and trust that the HOW will reveal itself as you start taking action.
Then set your mini goals for the year by writing down measurable milestones in the different areas of life – set goals for Health, Mind, Profession/Business/Career, Self, Wealth, Spirituality, Community, Adventure, Family & Friends.
Once you are clear about what steps you must take, commit to being disciplined to do what needs to be done. Commit to having the courage to step out of your Comfort Zone, to do new things, to trust that you will work things out and to overcoming obstacles that you encounter on the way.
STEP 5 – TAKE Action
Once the dreaming, thinking and planning is done, it is time to ACT. What we do each day slowly crafts our life. The small actions are as important as the big actions.
Choose to start each day, each week and each month with intention.
Choose to LEAD yourself, by setting a goal for each day.
Choose to MANAGE yourself by getting a plan for each day.
Choose to APPLY yourself by taking action.
Then follow your plan, dealing with life as it comes, and never losing focus of the plan. Action creates progress, progress builds momentum and momentum drives motivation. Motivation is the magic force that pulls us towards our goals. You are your most valuable asset on your journey through life. Invest time into yourself, to choosing what you want. Be kind to yourself. Guide and motivate yourself to make small improvements every day. Encourage yourself to make the changes you need to make and
most importantly choose to be happy and enjoy the journey.
Written by: Sally Palmer, High Performance Trainer and Coach at Sabre Business World
About the Author
Sally Palmer, one of the founders of Sabre Business World is a Personal and Business High Performance Trainer, Coach and Author with a passion for igniting people through teaching High Performance skills that enable them to ignite their lives. Balancing being a mother of 4 boys and building a business in Zimbabwe, she is fascinated with learning and teaching High Performance skills to help people balance all the demands of life and business to help them thrive in our unpredictable and ever changing world