In just a few short days the year rolls over to 2019, and it is that time of year to do your end of the year wrap-up. Are you ready? Here we go! Buckle up!
Lighten Your Load – Simply put, every day from today to the end of the year, go through your emails and simply unsubscribe! You will be amazed at how much happier you will be. Believe me, those same folks will buy your name from a mass email list, and you will begin to get them again. If you are lucky, you will be off their list for good.
You Don’t Have to Go – Listen, if you do not enjoy going to events, conferences or visiting people then stop going. Find something else to do that you are passionate about. If you are looking to escape, escape to someone or someplace that you love. If your obligations at work seem to imply that you must go to something, then see if you can send a colleague or switch to another event that you like more or that is more relevant to your position.
Most Important First – If you find yourself year after year not taking your well-earned rest, and then put those weeks on your calendar blocked time off first instead of trying to squeeze it in. We become more creative and our ability to solve problems increases when we disconnect from our work and daily environment.
How Are You Doing – Be very brave and do something out of the ordinary, have each one of your family members give you a grade or a percentage on how you are doing as a husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, etc. It is important to maintain a neutral face and listen and do not give excuses or brush aside what you are being told. Then simply ask for forgiveness and ask how you can do better. The answer may surprise you in its utter simplicity.
Ambitions or Goals for the New Year – Think about where you are today in terms of where you want to be professionally and personally a find one thing that you can do in the next three months to take one step forward toward that goal. Small steps will make a big difference in how you feel about yourself.
Short Attention Span – A couple of years ago a study was done on the human attention span, and humans have an attention span [8 seconds] which is less than that of a common goldfish [9 seconds]. Now that is just sad! How can we improve so that we can stay focused, on task and actually complete one thing instead of flitting back and forth between tasks? The easiest way to do this is to; break our addiction with our technology. This is the greatest detriment to productivity in the world today. Let me ask you this: have you ever received an email at work that seems to be the continuation of a random conversation from someone’s text? I have, and it causes me to just shake my head in disbelief.
Broad Shoulders – Are you one of these people who simply can’t say no to anything, any job, any request or anybody? S-T-O-P it! Let people be disappointed that you are no longer their slave. You have the right to say NO anytime and in fact all the time. When we continually say yes what we are saying is: “..bring it on….I have no boundaries….and I have no self-control to say NO to you or anyone else….” I see another similar type of behavior in those who do the task for the simple reason that they truly believe no one else will pick up the slack. Again, nothing is further from the truth.
Be Creative in 2019 – Choose 19 things that matter the most to you and do two of them a month until your 19 things are complete. Write 19 love letters, reconnecting letter, and 19 thank you notes to those who need to hear from you. Yes, I mean on paper/or card, in longhand and put an actual stamp on it and mail it. If you do not have a family or are not married, enlist a friend to do the 19 things with and share the fun and excitement. For a big change try doing 19 volunteer things for a senior center, soup kitchen, homeless shelter, teach someone to read, animal shelter, one of the hundreds of outreach/compassion companies which provide services to the underserved in your hometown. Your heart will burst with joy at helping others, and I bet you will even continue this practice for the rest of the year and into 2020!
Let me hear from you – how do you wrap up your year and begin the next?
If you are interested in being coached or mentored by Janice in 2019, she does have limited availability beginning in January 2019.
Send an email to begin the process: janice@janicebastanicoaching.com.
Visit my website at:
www.janicebastanicoaching.com or www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/janicebastani
