It's Time to do a Review of the Year

Bring in the New Year
2018 is behind us and it’s time to reflect, to review and capture all of the learnings from the year that has been. I use this time of year to reflect on where I spent my time, the impact that time had and what I would do differently if I got to do the whole year again. 

 

The great news is that we DO get to do the whole year again as today is a whole new day, a whole new month and a whole new year!

 

At this time of year, many people use the opportunity to set New Years’ Resolutions. The trouble is that the research shows that most of us aren’t very successful at sticking to those resolutions.  Only 8% of people make it work. 

 

So, what to do?  I have found that you can break that pattern of failure by deciding to do small things consistently, which on the surface don’t seem significant, but over time those actions will compound, and result in a transformation of your entire life.  

 

New behaviours require a lot more energy than those that are established and automated, so don’t try to do too many new things at the same time, and pick one big area to focus on. If you can do more than that, then great. But set yourself low targets to keep yourself on the front-foot. 

 

So what could 2019 be for you? 

 

Perhaps this could be the year that you decide to upgrade your food?  If that’s your choice,  then commit to putting energy into upgrading your eating habits to fuel your greatness.

 

Or this could be the year where you decide to move your body consistently?  If that’s the case, then pick something you love doing and then schedule the ‘Exercise Time’ in your calendar and show up consistently.

 

Maybe this is the year that you decide to write the book that you have always wanted to write?  Is it time to stop talking about it and actually start writing?  Even if you write one page a day, the book will eventually be written.

 

Could this be the year to learn a new skill?  Maybe you have always wanted to play the piano, but have never taken that first step.  This could be the year where you start to be able to play some of your favourite tunes.

 

Or maybe this is the year where you want to spend more time with your family?  Life and work may have got in the way and no one is getting any younger, so maybe this is the year that this is your main thing?

 

So wherever you are in your life journey, decide what this year is going to mean for you. Pick a theme, pick a word that summarises it and commit to showing up consistently. 

 

In truth, none of us knows what’s going to happen this year. But what I can tell you is that there will be highs, lows and surprises and the things you can control are what you feed your body and your mind with and how you react to the positive and negative events and experiences in your life.

 

Back in 1999, I was at a crossroads in my life. I was working for the Financial Times in London but was struggling. I sat at my desk one December evening and started to write. From my hand, flowed a summary of where I was at that time, and then I allowed the pen to keep moving and outline the life I wanted to live one day.  

Make This Year Count

Over time, I refined the techniques to create a programme that I follow every year to keep upgrading my own life and it now forms the basis of my whole coaching philosophy that I use to help hundreds of others upgrade their lives too. My big goal is to make the world a healthier place, one person at a time, and now I’ve finally pulled together my own strategies and toolkits into a programme to help you upgrade your life wherever you are on your journey.

This programme has been designed to walk you through the thinking process required to:

  • Understand where you are right now.  You can’t move forward without fully understanding your starting point and being honest with yourself.  It’s easy to gloss over
  • Create some ideas that turn into goals for where you want to go.  It helps you think bigger 
  • Pinpoint those blockers that hold you still, that keep you stuck in a situation
A Better Life is the result of 20 years of my own life experience, plus the insights from coaching and working with hundreds of people.  I designed this for my own life as I knew there had to be a better way.  I added in tools that I learnt in marketing and the business world and applied them to my own life, seeing myself as the CEO of my own life.

 

So, applying the same principles to yourself, as the CEO of your life it’s time to take full ownership and start to make the small changes that lead to big transformation.  If I can do it, you can too.

 

Everything is energy and so much energy is wasted worrying, being fearful and regretting.  Just imagine how much good you can create with all of that energy!

 

Wishing you the very best this year has to offer,
Lawrence