As 2016 gets into full swing, I look around and see lists, I hear murmurs of New Year's resolutions, see sparks of inspiration, and see excitement on many faces. Sadly, as the weeks pass along, most of that will soon be forgotten as the sparkle of the New Year dulls. It is not that the resolutions or excitement are ill intentioned, it is that society has become accustomed to instant gratification or the habitual motion of starting and stopping, not consistency of progress necessary to reach success. At the end of the day, January 1, 2016 was a Friday, and while many may not have had to work, it does not differ than any other 24-hour period in this life. The time will pass anyway, so why not make the most of it and not wait until January 1, 2017 to start living the life you want, right here, right now? After working with my clients over the past four and a half years, there are 4 roadblocks I consistently see that inhibit people from having the life they want. Each roadblock has a simply solution that will help you get back on track and in control. My intention in sharing them with you is the hope that by knowing what you are up against, you can obliterate these roadblocks and make 2016 you best year yet. As Jim Rohn so eloquently put it, "the same wind blows on us all, the difference, is the set of your sails!"
Lack of Direction
Many people are on this road called life with no idea what their destination truly is, they are simply going along hoping that the directional sign will hit them in the head and they will wake up and know what their purpose is. Rarely in life does something hit you squarely between the eyes and suddenly you find out your true path. Nope! The reality is that through a significant amount of trial and error you figure out what you do not want, which inevitably directs you to what you do want. If you take a real look at your life it is exactly what you want it to be. If you are rich, successful, and moving forward it is exactly what you expect and want. If you are broke, floundering, and stagnant you guessed it, it is exactly what you expect and want. I am sure you are saying no one wants to be a broke failure, and that is true to a point. However, if you look at the difference between people who prosper and people who wither, the difference is that the former have direction, the latter are blowing in the wind of hope. Which are you?
Your Solution: I read a phenomenal book just yesterday called Eat That Frog. In it Brain Tracey asks us to write our 10 goals we want to accomplish for the next year as though they had already passed and are a reality. Next we were to review the list and select one goal, which if we achieved it would have the greatest positive effect on your life this year. I want you to do the same exercise. When you have that one thing that will positively move you forward, you have a place to navigate to - just as a plane on "auto-pilot" makes little navigational corrections to make sure they arrive at the correct destination, now you can make sure you are staying on the right course to reach your goals.
Lack of Intention
Once you have your one goal for the year (you can have one personal, professional, health, if you want), the next key is to approach it with intention. Fairly often people have goals but when it comes time to execute on said goals they have no idea where to start or worse they attack it in a haphazard way. The surest way to not reach a goal is to not have a plan, and no plan with bad habits is a recipe for failure. When you can see the direction you are going, you can make a plan, and once you have a plan you can form habits to support that plan. This is not any different than a road trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver. You need to know the proper route to get from A to B otherwise you might very well end up in Michigan! When you have a goal you can approach everything you do within your day with intention. You will find yourself gravitating to do the things that will positively impact achieving your goal before the things that are "busy work." You may suddenly decided that another episode of Homeland does not hold as much value as finishing a proposal so you are not stressed during family time. Intention allows you to take action everyday to move yourself closer to completing the goal. Intention allows you to focus your time, your energy, your priorities, and even your life! With intention, one step at a time, you will make progress, chances are more progress in a short amount of time than the many years that came before.
Your Solution: Look at your habits, which are ones you need to do more of and which less. Plan your years, months, weeks, and days - the more detailed the plan the easier the path to success. Next, find the critical things you need to do which no one else can do, and conquer them first, delegate the rest if you can. Don't go through your days by the seat of your pants, make a plan, pick good habits, work from a list and stick to it until it is done! (Brian also dives into this in greater detail as well, if you haven't read Eat That Frog, I highly recommend you do!)
Lack of Conviction
Some call it grit, some determination, some gumption, some kahunas, whatever you call it, to succeed you must have conviction that you will achieve your goal no matter what. There will be challenges, naysayers, setbacks, and even days that you just plain do not feel you have it in you. Those are the days that test your will, but they are also the days that can make you even more convicted to your cause. It does not matter if you goal is financial, career centric, family centric, or health centric, by having the conviction to do something everyday that moves you forward, you will persevere. When you become convicted, a marvelous shift happens, things begin to align to assist you. Suddenly you get a bigger year end bonus, you make a business acquaintance that connects you to a new account, you get recommended to a great personal trainer, etc. it doesn't matter what your goal is, you have to make a choice to go after it with all you've got.
Your Solution: Stick to your guns, find out your goal and chase it daily until you accomplish what you desire. Have the mental fortitude to stoke the conviction burning in your soul.
Lack of Education
When I look at my success and how I got here, the answer is simple: I never stopped learning. If I didn't know how to do something, I did one of two things: 1) I asked someone who was successfully doing what I needed to do for advice and integrated it into my daily habits or 2) I found a book by an expert on the subject and began to study it until I knew what I needed to move to the next level. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in your area (or about 10 years). This should be a great relief to you, expertise and success take time and that is okay. College may be a distant memory but learning should not. When you stop learning, you stagnate. By continuing to learn you are able to bring about different ideas, learn new skills, and propel yourself forward in ways that might not have seemed possible. The difference between you getting a raise or promotion could be as simple as you decided to go to a conference to get better at your trade. It took 3 days of time, but in the end it was the determining factor in your paycheck and career path. You never know what tidbit you will hear at a conference or read in a book that will set your world on fire. That moment could be a defining moment in your career. That moment could be exactly what you needed to move yourself to the next level of success!
Your Solution: Be dissatisfied with the status quo. Between Christmas Eve and January 4th I read 5 books. I say that not brag, but to show you that you have a choice, take a lull in the month and veg out or take it as an opportunity to expand your sphere of knowledge that will help prepare you to make the most of the up times. I recommend you read at least a book a month that will help you get better in some aspect of your life or career or attend a conference to help you develop! Not only will it help you reach your goals faster but it will also help you grow as a human. If you need to be a better communicator join toastmasters; if you need to be better at the thoughts you tell yourself read The Power of Your Subconscious Mind; if you want to get better at sales go find the top sales rep and mirror what they do (but make it your own, you cannot be them, but you can take some of their best tradecraft and make it fit you)! The bottom line is that your success is completely dependent on you and your willingness to grow, do not let life pass you by because you were unwilling to expand yourself.
Now go out there and make it happen!
P.S. I write a weekly post called Wake Up Wednesday on my business blog, feel free to pop over there for weekly inspiration and if you are looking for some books to encourage you in 2016, here are some of my favorites:
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action