2014…Let it Begin!

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Here it is. Shimmering in the hazy sun.  Like untouched snow. Clean and pristine. The potential is endless.  It’s a new year!  Forget 2013. It’s 2014:

  • What are you going to do now to make sure you have your best year ever?
  • What one thing will mean the difference in actually achieving your goals rather than chalking them up to yet another year’s unfulfilled resolutions?
  • What can you do to enhance your life?

There are literally hundreds of ways you can kick-start your new year.  Here are just some of them:

START A BUSINESS PLAN. If you’ve been sitting on a business idea for a while and haven’t acted on it, it’s time to do something about it. Write down your ideas and start working on a business plan.  Take those first steps.  As I’ve said before in numerous posts there is no better feeling. Start your own business

LOSE OTHER PEOPLE’S OPINIONS. Follow your own rules. Be true to yourself. It’s your life after all. Go live it. Forget what others think. It doesn’t really matter. Truly it doesn’t

DO SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU. What scares you? It could be talking in front of others. It could be holding a spider in your hand. Why not make this year the year you conquer that fear? Plan it and then do it.  You could be scared of heights. Why not plan a parachute jump?…that’s what I plan to do this year. If posts dry up around spring time you’ll know why.

PLAN A TRIP.  Where’s that one place you have always wanted to go? Why not plan that trip RIGHT NOW? In fact I highly recommend taking a trip of any kind.  If you’re not sure where to go, just chuck a pin in map. Go wherever it lands. I guarantee there will be something amazing to see.

SAY YES MORE. A LOT MORE.  Say yes even when you want to say no. You want to increase possibilities, options and opportunities right?  The only way you are going to do that is to say yes to that new community project. Say yes to the night out (even on a school night). Say yes to every invitation. Stop waiting for opportunities to present themselves. Go and find them for yourself. And, dare I say it; you may enjoy yourself while doing so,

LEARN A NEW SKILL. This could be anything. Is there something you always wanted to be able to do but never learnt? Why not set some time aside every day. Or even every week to learn? As little as 30 minutes over a year will make a huge difference. What is that one thing? It could be learning to swim. It might be learning a musical instrument. Is it learning how to do a handstand or the splits? It could be learning a new language. I am (slowly) learning Spanish. What skill have you always wanted to master?

WRITE DOWN YOUR TOP TEN GOALS FOR THIS YEAR and post them where you can see them every day. They don’t have to be mind blowing. They are your goals and you’ll get a real lift as you tick them off throughout the year. What do you want achieve this year? It could be as big as starting your own business to as small as changing your hairstyle. Make a list and don’t lose sight of it.

SLOW DOWN. Life isn’t about getting somewhere. It’s a journey (and one hell of a ride!). Stop every once in a while to remember it. To enjoy it.  Relax. Have a look around. What are you grateful for? What have you done this week that you enjoyed?  Give yourself a break and stop. Turn off the phone. Switch of the TV and have a little self-reflection time. It really helps.

Most importantly. TAKE ACTION NOW. A lot can happen in a year. But it is only 12 months. It goes by pretty f****** fast!

HAPPY 2014 everyone. Let’s DO IT.

2014

2013. Reflections

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2013. Goodbye. It’s been a good one.  Mostly.

Another year has flown by.  What a year! For me there have been highs, massive highs. There have been lows.  Pretty much nothing in between! A veritable rollercoaster. A true reflection of running your own business.  I feel so much more alive!

And with the end of the year many people reflect on the year. Or the years gone by. “What really matters? What is really important?”

But sometimes, in this haze of conflicting demands, it can be difficult to know exactly what our priorities are.  What exactly is it that matter most?

You need to figure out what is most important to you. Once you understand what that is, nothing else matters.

But how do you do that?

Ask yourself this:

At the end of your life what do you want to have accomplished? What will make you look back and say, “I’m proud I did that”?

It will be different for every one of us.

We each enjoy different things because we have different definitions of what is important to us. The truth is that there is no single correct answer as to what is or should be most important to us. Some may find that money and/or fame is most important to them. Some may believe that it is doing what you love. Others believe that it is being with whom you love. There is no right answer. It’s what you as an individual find to be most important to you that is correct. We are who we are and shouldn’t look to others in hopes of them giving us the right answer. We must find it ourselves.

What do your answers tell you about your real priorities in life?

Was 2013 the year you took those first steps to leading the life you want? Was it before then? Will 2014 be the year? When will it be?

Do you know what it is you want? Because when you work out what really matters to you, you will also know what is not important. And you can cut that shit out. It is not important. Don’t waste your life on these things.

For me the phrase below is a good code to aim for:

At the end of the day, what really matters in life is not that much. If you laughed more than you cried, smiled more than you frowned, loved more than you hated, saved more than you destroyed, solved more problems than you caused, told more truth than you lied, caused more tears of joy than tears of sorrow, let your loved ones how much you value them and had a pretty damn good time doing what you love to do, then it was a good day.

There is just one thing that remains to be said. Have a very Merry Christmas and an even better New Year. Here’s to 2014. Let our New Years Resolution be this:

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Then do it again.

And Don’t Ever Give up.

Together we can make 2014 ROCK!

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