HOW TO START A NEW YEAR

 Buzz Buzz!

 

            New year along many other things comes with a feeling that you have been given a new chance to start something. We feel elated, we feel energized to take the bulls by the horn, we are more encouraged to pursue new goals, not because the sun rose from the south or we won a lottery, but because it is a new year. It feels like a big reset button was hit, and our psychology concurs. But after a while, the feelings fade, the spiked morale starts dipping and we start marching almost as we did last year, so in this piece, we would be dealing with how to avoid that and start a new year properly.

 

    Step One - Do Not Rush: 

            As the new year feeling gets more robust during the first few days of the year, the more we want to fill a cardboard will goals and targets. Without accessing the possibilities, our emotion sponsored goals are poured down, without concrete plan on how to get to the mountain top, we include “reaching the mountain top” as a goal. There is a need to bring your emotions under control as much as you can, become diligent and take everything one step at a time. HOW?

 

1) Take the new year for what it truly is, a fresh start - A fresh start doesn't mean the previous year doesn't count. If in an exam hall, you requested for a fresh paper after filling the old, the new one does not come to cancel the old rather an opportunity to write something that will either add or remove from the old one. It is same with new years, you have received a fresh paper, the old one still counts, but you have the chance to correct or strengthen anything from the past. Be wise with your fresh starts and insist on not repeating the same mistakes that can be found in your previous exam paper.

2) Access yourself: Most persons do not stop to reflect on themselves as they enter new seasons of their life, in the midst of a merry and cherry atmosphere, why should you bother about that when we can enjoy now and think about that later? The problem is, now is not really far from later, it is actually closer than we would like to admit. Self examination helps you know where you are coming from, where you are standing and what you need to be where you desire to be. Talking to oneself is beneficial. Sitting down with a piece of paper and pen and having a sincere conversation with yourself is a way to access yourself. One hour for yourself in a single day should not break a sweat. Find a quiet place, pick up your writing tools and ask yourself honest questions and you'd be amazed the at outcome.

 

    Step Two - Write Down Your Goals:

            This part seems easy but if not done with caution might end up where the previous goals ended. Instead of being confused in the maze of the many things you would want to do this year, you can clarify yourself by writing it down through any means and reading it out to yourself, this way you can know how hard you need to work because you have pondered on the gravity of each goal and there is much clearance on each one of them. Leaving your goals cluttered up in your head is a bad way to start your year. Write it down, go through each of them one by one and strike out any if necessary because it is better to have little achievable goals than tens of unattainable goals. One encourages you to push further, while the other sends negative signals to you, hence reducing your morale to push further. HOW DO YOU WRITE GOALS THEN?

 

1) Make it as straight to the point as possible: One of the reasons we write our goals down is to get as much clarification about the goal as possible. If after writing it down, there is still no clear path on how to go about it, then there is no difference. The way we write our goals can make or break the motivation to forge ahead. I will loose weight and I will loose 20 kg by next month is not the same thing. One truly is a wish you decided to write down, the other calls for more action and accountability. Being vague in your goal writing is as good as now writing it at all, because you will not know where to start from or how to sustain it if you do, you need to clarify the path as much as possible.

2) Implore the IAP principle: IAP stands for ISOLATE AND PURSUE. This is a principle I came up with while writing this piece, and basically what it means is you separate few goals in your list of goals and pursue them like it is the only goal you have to achieve. This will help you to be less overwhelmed when you look at your long list of goals. After writing down your goals in paper A, you will bring out a different sheet of paper (paper B) and isolate 1-2 most important goals from paper A into paper B. Then work on the goals in paper B.

Tips To Note While Executing The IAP Principle

 

1 While transferring a goal from paper A to B, break it down further. You can do so by reducing the year goal into months, then the months goal into weeks and days. This way you know what to do every single day.

² After transferring the goals from paper A to B, it is important that you remove paper A from sight, this will help you focus more on the goals at hand.

3 It is important you start with discipline and not emotions.

 

 

Conclusion

 

            Though it might be tempting to start your year on a sprint, trying to do as much as possible within a short time frame, it is better to run your year as a relay instead. It helps your brain more if you set two goals and achieve it than if you set 20 goals and not achieve it. Again, some persons might say they do not have the resources they need to achieve their goals, I say nevertheless, start with what you have. It is he/she who starts the race that can ever hope to finish. Complaining about your bad shoe in comparison to others doesn’t help you. Step on the track and start running, and you will notice along the way, It is either you do not need the best shoe to participate or you generate enough sweat to change your shoes while still on the track. Happy new year.