I’m going to make this Friday’s post quick. I have uncovered some incredibly useful posts in the past week talking about goals and ‘setting yourself up for the best year of your life…’
I have also found a substantial amount of contrived garbage that was clearly ripped off from someone else with zero heart and soul in their ‘checklist approach’ for ‘living the life of your dreams in 2019’ posts.
Well, back in August as I was just past the 84 days of posting – I wrote a post about the genius of the daily. In that post, I said the following, although I’m reordering it here a bit from the original post:
Decide and do it. If you are worried about starting to do it – make the first step the smallest possible step that you would be embarrassed to NOT do it.
Action starts momentum.
Energy is fueled by momentum.
And the cycle continues.
Both James Clear and Sean Wes speak to the micro first step. Martha Beck speaks to turtle steps if that is all you can manage. I have studied all three of them, and a few others over the past 24 months honing in on this idea of habits and routines on the daily.
I have done the 50+ goals setting exercise back in early 2017, and I’ll repost a year in review on the accomplishments/action that it required along with the stress I incurred as a result of the self judgement associated with my need to perform.
I do love goals and goal setting. I am a type A personality, and I have a substantial amount of ‘doing’ in my various backlogs. However, I’m not going to regurgitate the usual garbage you see at this time of year.
Instead, I’m going to invite you to a few questions when you consider the year you envision for yourself in 2019.
What is the one habit that you could do on the daily that would generate the most value for you in your life for the next year?
What would that be? Be specific.
If you said exercise, I’m going to call you on it. I do not know a single person that exercised 365 days last year, myself included. You need recovery time built in too.
Would it be watching how many calories you are taking in? Simple awareness can bring about profound changes.
Would it be cultivating a gratitude habit each day?
Would it be journaling for a few minutes each morning or each evening? Both at the beginning and end of your days?
Would it be tracking your sleep patterns/amount each night?
Would it be tracking your financials each day in terms of spending?
I am a big believer in getting control and owning your daily life, and doing things intentionally with your time, energy, and any other asset you have in your life. This notion of daily ownership, mindfulness, and discipline will precede any seriously transformative goals you have in mind. Without the daily ownership, you will be very ‘sloshy’ as you attempt to build the life you envision – with some ups and downs that likely could have been smoothed out with a greater focus on your daily life.
The most successful people I have been around have routinized and habitualized so many things in their lives that it enables them to drive/love/listen/exercise/earn/give/etc hard on multiple dimensions of of their life that are seemingly impossible to those that do not have the systems and routines in place that enable those that drive more meaning and happiness out of their daily lives.
These same individuals that own their days with strong habits and routines are also incredibly magnetic when they put their full power into an area of focus. This is the stuff of legend and of legacy.
So I ask you – instead of goals in 2019 – what is the single biggest impact that you could have on your life with a new daily habit or routine?
Then get started on it today, and track it. Don’t judge. Take action, and then track it mindfully.
Things will open up for you over time.
Happy New Year’s everyone!!!