In the coming weeks, get very clear about precisely what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your priorities, your values, your dreams? What's important? What will make a difference for you and your loved ones? For now, don't worry too much about "how" you'll pull it off, just note what's true and what you really want in 2017. When you're clear about "what," you'll figure out "how." "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."
I'm told it applies to world affairs, but I know it definitely applies to my own budget, my personal happiness, and my performance in the new year. For better or worse, unless we make very specific and determined plans for change, the future tends to look like the past, only more so! I always coach my clients to begin their planning with a careful review of past performance.
The future inevitably builds on the present, and the present is the result of past choices, habits and patterns. In general, our past is the very best predictor of future performance, and we want to learn all we can in order to move forward as skillfully and boldly as possible!
It is true, of course, is that people change. Hope and ambition are based on making changes and going boldly forward. We all change and grow, but we tend to change slowly. Once in a while we are transformed in a flash of insight, but mostly we evolve. We learn. We try new things, and (at our best) we discover new ways of doing things and we use that knowledge to create a future that is different and better than the past.
And so to make next year better, it's critical to ask, What have I learned? What has life taught me? Where am I stronger, more skilled or (perhaps) sneakier than in the past? How will I take better advantage of opportunities in the new year? What will I do differently?
These questions are usually best answered over time, with thought, insight and a few notes. Sometimes they are answered in conversation with people who know and love us. Sometimes our mistakes are our best (and most painful) teachers!
One reason we laugh that insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, is that we've all done it! Life tends to drift forward, with small modifications in technology or new toys or a few more gray hairs, but too often, too many of us go from year to year without examining the past, and changing our behavior. That's a common pattern, and it's a HUGE mistake!
As this year draws to a close and you plan for 2017, challenge yourself to ask and answer better questions.
Dare to list your two or three biggest mistakes of the year. Don't be upset over them, but study and LEARN from them. Where did you mess up? Where did you delay too long or rush ahead too quickly? If you see patterns or warning signs, jot them down. You may learn something useful.
And list your best successes! How did you achieve them? What did you do right? How did you use your brilliance, your skills or your courage to accomplish powerful results? Take notes--you'll want to repeat them in the future!
If your year-end review suggests some character traits you'd like to change (something to over-come or to begin), jot them down! Consider ways to become stronger and more effective in the coming year. Study people who have the quality you admire and ponder how they've achieved it. If you're really bold, ask them for advice!
And in the coming weeks, get very clear about precisely what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your priorities, your values, your dreams? What's important? What will make a difference for you and your loved ones? For now, don't worry too much about "how" you'll pull it off, just note what's true and what you really want in 2017. When you're clear about "what," you'll figure out "how."
============================================ Quotes of the Week
"Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."
-- Jim Rohn
"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
-- Beverly Sills
"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up."
-- Vince Lombardi
"We can do anything we want to as long as we stick to it long enough."
-- Helen Keller
By Brian Azar
Article Source: Are You Ready For 2017?
I'm told it applies to world affairs, but I know it definitely applies to my own budget, my personal happiness, and my performance in the new year. For better or worse, unless we make very specific and determined plans for change, the future tends to look like the past, only more so! I always coach my clients to begin their planning with a careful review of past performance.
The future inevitably builds on the present, and the present is the result of past choices, habits and patterns. In general, our past is the very best predictor of future performance, and we want to learn all we can in order to move forward as skillfully and boldly as possible!
It is true, of course, is that people change. Hope and ambition are based on making changes and going boldly forward. We all change and grow, but we tend to change slowly. Once in a while we are transformed in a flash of insight, but mostly we evolve. We learn. We try new things, and (at our best) we discover new ways of doing things and we use that knowledge to create a future that is different and better than the past.
And so to make next year better, it's critical to ask, What have I learned? What has life taught me? Where am I stronger, more skilled or (perhaps) sneakier than in the past? How will I take better advantage of opportunities in the new year? What will I do differently?
These questions are usually best answered over time, with thought, insight and a few notes. Sometimes they are answered in conversation with people who know and love us. Sometimes our mistakes are our best (and most painful) teachers!
One reason we laugh that insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, is that we've all done it! Life tends to drift forward, with small modifications in technology or new toys or a few more gray hairs, but too often, too many of us go from year to year without examining the past, and changing our behavior. That's a common pattern, and it's a HUGE mistake!
As this year draws to a close and you plan for 2017, challenge yourself to ask and answer better questions.
Dare to list your two or three biggest mistakes of the year. Don't be upset over them, but study and LEARN from them. Where did you mess up? Where did you delay too long or rush ahead too quickly? If you see patterns or warning signs, jot them down. You may learn something useful.
And list your best successes! How did you achieve them? What did you do right? How did you use your brilliance, your skills or your courage to accomplish powerful results? Take notes--you'll want to repeat them in the future!
If your year-end review suggests some character traits you'd like to change (something to over-come or to begin), jot them down! Consider ways to become stronger and more effective in the coming year. Study people who have the quality you admire and ponder how they've achieved it. If you're really bold, ask them for advice!
And in the coming weeks, get very clear about precisely what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your priorities, your values, your dreams? What's important? What will make a difference for you and your loved ones? For now, don't worry too much about "how" you'll pull it off, just note what's true and what you really want in 2017. When you're clear about "what," you'll figure out "how."
============================================ Quotes of the Week
"Success is neither magical or mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."
-- Jim Rohn
"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
-- Beverly Sills
"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up."
-- Vince Lombardi
"We can do anything we want to as long as we stick to it long enough."
-- Helen Keller
By Brian Azar
Article Source: Are You Ready For 2017?
