As the new year begins, we will often hear people declaring that this year will be their best year yet. The phrase ‘new year, new me’ will be tweeted and declared so many times that you will roll your eyes when someone begins to utter the words. However, there is a lot of truth in this phrase. Year after year we are evolving into new people who we were the year before. But when did this change occur?
Throughout this, I hope to take you on a journey as to why change can be beneficial and how you can ensure that you accomplish what you want throughout the course of this upcoming year.
It’s crazy how we can look back on a picture, quote, or hear music playing and it brings us back to a time or place in our lives. We are no longer the same person we see in an old picture. You can look at the picture and remember the insecurities you once had or how oblivious you once were to the world. So when do we change? How is it that we look back and that’s the same person, yet you aren’t that person at all anymore? You don’t make the same mistakes, you don’t stress over the same things, or worry about certain people.
It’s just crazy to me. Change is incredible. Change is life-changing. Change is wisdom. Change is the only constant in life and that’s amazing to me.
How we change is the main thing we must focus on. Whether we evolve or digress in this process is all up to YOU. The great thing about turning over the leaf from one year to the next is it gives you a fresh 12 months to look forward to.
In order to ensure that you don’t let this fresh start go to waste, one must set goals. Think about your likes and dislikes from the previous years when coming up with your future plans. Make sure that when planning what you want to accomplish, they are realistic and achievable for the timeline you set. Not planning for the future could be setting yourself up for failure. Think about it, if you don’t have a plan, how can you possibly reach your destination?
The following steps are meant to help maximize your potential for this upcoming year:
Believe in yourself.
This is the first step in the right direction. How can you convince others that you are going to be great if you don’t have the confidence in yourself? Whether you want to find a cure for cancer or simply pay off your student loans you accumulated in college. BELIEVE YOU CAN & YOU WILL!
Visualize where you want to be.
Taking the time to sit down and think about your future is the next step in achieving your goals. Visualizing the situation makes it more realistic. When you begin to picture yourself being in the position that you’ve worked so hard for, it makes you want it more. Envision yourself traveling to various countries and interacting with different cultures, obtaining new jobs, or even starting a family. When you want something bad enough you will do whatever it takes to get where you want to be.
Write down your goals.
I know this sounds cliche, but you have to write down your goals. Studies have shown that writing down your goals increases the chances of actually achieving them. This also helps in determining whether or not your goals are achievable for the time period you have set them for.
Plan it out.
Now that you have set your goals, come up with the proper steps to ensure that you don’t let them just be thoughts that never flourish. Coming up with specific steps to achieve these and a timeline to when you should conquer these will keep you focused on your main objective.
Commit yourself.
We are at the last step of the process. Change will come regardless. Whether or not you take the steps to change in the way that you want is up to YOU. Post your goals in a place that you have to look at everyday. For instance, if your goal is to lose 30 pounds by the end of the year, post your goals on your refrigerator so every time you go to grab a snack you’re reminded of it. Or place it on your mirror so everyday while you’re getting ready you see the steps you need to take for this lifestyle change.
Now that we have established that you’re going to change this upcoming year – think about how you want to chance. Will you let nature take its course and allow yourself to evolve without any say so? Or will you set your mind to something and achieve it throughout this next 365 days?
Think of it like this, imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance day to day … what would you do? Withdraw it out everyday, right? Each of us has this bank account and it’s TIME. Every day we are allotted 86,400 seconds. We must make the best of today’s deposits. The clock is constantly ticking, make the most of it. Take 2017 and make this year the best year yet!
