I sit here in front of the tree the second to the last night of 2014, reflecting on the last year and what I had mapped out last year in front of the tree, what I had planned personally and professionally for 2014. No, this is post is not about Disney, it is about life, our goals, our dreams, and how will we get there. I look back and think how I let outside factors get in the way of what I planned, I let those things affect me growing in a forward movement in some areas of my life. In others areas, I had NO IDEA how much I would challenge myself, grow, and the people I would meet along the way. But the one phrase I heard recently from a friend was “Live Life by design, not by default”. In so many areas I allowed life to get in the way and I ran on auto pilot, saying “tomorrow I will deal with that” or “tomorrow I will start that project”. I truly believe keeping that phrase in the forefront of your mind can change the outcome of any goal and dream you have. In everything you do, being present, living with design and not just going through the motions needs to be a constant in your life. Plan to grow your business with a design, a plan mapped out instead of the numbers you have as goals. How will you get there every day? Write it out the night before. It truly helps to have a list as your brain processes how to accomplish your plan for the next day while you sleep. What about fitness? Joining a gym will not get you there. Map out what you will do for that week ahead of time. You will find you will make those workouts like appointments in your daily life instead of just trying to squeeze it in somewhere. Remember, wearing the clothes with the intention of working out is not the same thing (we all have done that). What about personal relationships? If you do not have a plan on how to nurture them, you will never grow them stronger. A relationship is like your body, neglect it and one day, it may be like staring in the mirror and saying, how did I get to this weight? You will ask yourself, how did we get here and how do we get back or even how do we get better. It’s always harder once you let something slip away to get it back. Have a plan to grow your relationships with your kids, your significant other, the friends in your life that are constants, that don’t come along often. These are the people in your life you can’t afford to lose, they are the people that help you be who you are. They are more important than the laundry, than a clean house. You HAVE to make time by design to grow and nurture these relationships. In what areas will you live your life more by design and less by default? I have three, how about you?
What did you learn about yourself from 2014? We can all do better but what did you learn about who you are, good and bad? If you ask yourself these honest questions and write them down, making honest goals that will be meaningful will be easier and you are more likely to reach them. Don’t sit reflecting 365 days from now and think, “damn, how did I not get that done?”
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