Let’s face it, the year 2020 is like no other that you and I have ever known. Never in recent history did the whole world come to a screeching halt for any reason. Then came a sucker punch from a common enemy. Everyone is still reeling from that punch but people are more resilient than they think. Despite the aches and pains, the world is collectively suffering [thanks to Covid-19 pandemic] you are still standing.
If you are feeling uncertain about next year, it is only because you are alive and you are human. Fear of the unknown is common among people but there are ways that successful people deal with life generally and those ways couldn’t be more apt at this period of uncertainty. Successful people never forget that “By failing to prepare, you prepare to fail”- Benjamin Franklin. As students of success, you should also adopt that mindset. You are in charge of living your life. To be in charge of your life does not mean going to bed and waking up. You have little or no control over that. But you are in charge of what you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed.
As the tumultuous 2020 winds down, you must take charge of 2021, and this is when you start. If you have never thought of doing this before, this is the right time to do the unusual. It has blessed me in more ways than I can share in this piece. I encourage you to give it a sincere try. This is what I mean.
First, take some time off from your daily routine to reflect on 2020. I know that a lot of my readers have never thought of doing anything like this before. The usual thing people do is to make New Year’s resolutions. But I will get to that in a moment. If you want a successful life, you have to be willing to do some unusual things.
Do not let 2021 happen to you. Make it happen for you instead. Do whatever you need to do, to take charge of the New Year. By this, I mean, see it, hold it, feel it, care for it, and live it on your turf [that is, value yourself] even before it arrives. If you are wondering how you can do all these, I assure you, you can do it. Desmond Tutu of South Africa said,”there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.” The same principle applies to eating a steak. When you want to eat a steak, what do you do? You start with one bite at a time. You don’t shove the whole steak into your mouth in one swoop. That will not go down well. So that is the approach you should adopt in thinking through and planning your New Year. Take it one month at a time.
For each month, think of the major events that took place in your life. Categorize them into health, family relationships, finances, career, failures, successes, and personal feelings. It is important to have a notepad and pen handy. You should make a special time to do this. Take a block of time perhaps two to three hours to yourself. If you live with people, let them know that you need some time to yourself. Some of you may need two hours a day for a week, some, one hour a day for two weeks. It does not matter how you chose to go about it. Whichever works for you is fine. The most important thing is to take it seriously enough that you invest some of your time to do it. If you are wise, you will switch off your phone for the duration of the period that you chose to engage in the process. Write down the things that come to your mind in short sentences. Remember no one is grading you. Do not waste time on typos, spellings, and sentence structure. You are writing for your eyes and guidance only. You don't even have to remember every little detail. Give yourself a maximum of thirty minutes for each month. The purpose of reflecting on the outgoing year is to help you see what you did and did not do but could have done. Once you have a good view of how the outgoing year has been for you, it should help you plan for a more successful New Year.
After reviewing the outgoing year, ask yourself this question,”what is important to me in 2021?” I will write this at the top of a clean page. Try to answer this question objectively. You are not doing it to compete with anyone. What's important to you may be inconsequential to another person. An objective response should address why an item is important. What you are trying to achieve in this process is clarity of purpose. When planning for any project, the purpose and importance must be clear. Without clarity, performance will be skewed at best. Here, we are talking about a whole year of your life. What could be more important than defining the thing(s) that are most important to you? Again, I will recommend that you categorize your responses because you have different components in your life. I will liken it to eating the elephant. Determine what is more important to you in your financial life, your health, relationships, personal growth, career/business, your faith, and so on. This shouldn’t take more than two hours to list. The real work is in drawing up a plan of action.
When you have listed the things that are most important to you for the New Year, invest some time in figuring out a strategy to making them happen. Revisit my blogs on how to set goals and accomplish them. Nothing could be more crucial to how your New Year turns out than strategizing and having a plan of action to tackle the most important things to you. It is in planning your New Year that you take control. Your strategies bring the year to life even before it starts. When you can see, feel, and taste your New Year, you will be all fired up and ready to start the New Year because “planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” – Alan Lakein.
The problem with New Year resolutions – every adult must have made some New Year resolution(s) at some point. The problem with these so-called New Year resolutions is that they do not work. Think about it for a moment. How many of your New Year resolutions have worked out? The reason is that they are often arbitrary. People fail to think it through. For the most part, they are not written down and backed up with concrete plans. People often make these resolutions on the eve of the New Year under the influence of food, alcohol, friends, family, or sheer excitement. If you want to achieve something that you have not been able to accomplish before, it is wise to try another method. Success is not an accident.
I know that 2020 has left us with much uncertainty. We are not even sure how to socially interact with one another. Our daily lifestyles are not what we knew them to be. While all these are true and daunting, they have also challenged our ability to adapt. Covid-19 threw a stiff curve at everyone. People are grappling with the new realities, but it is only a challenge for us to think differently, plan better, and design a better life for ourselves, our local and global communities. The incoming year provides an opportunity to start a clean slate to build a new and more prosperous life. If you can take care of the simple steps outlined here, come January 1 st , 2021, you will find yourself in control of the year.
Good luck as you on your success journey. I always appreciate feeds.