I once heard a professional scuba diver mention a common saying among scuber divers; 'Plan the dive, dive the plan'! Everything in live requires some form of planning in order for things to work out to the extent of some form of an expected outcome. So many of us often times act out activities without putting proper thought into what sequence is required to such actions, and as a result, we find ourselves working very hard to achieve nothing.
I so want this new year to be very different for me and I assume that you want the same thing for your self. How then can we achieve different? A Bishop once said to me, 'You can't expect different results by doing the same things you have been doing, the same way you have been doing them. That would amount to insanity'. To get different results, start out doing things different than what you have been used to doing in the past without results. In one of my later posts in 2018 on 'Personal And Family Finance Control Systems', I had pointed out certain simple steps that if followed consistently, can put you in a whole lot of financial order for instance. But then, even though your finance is not your only life, you will agree with me that it affects a huge part of your life in general. Now what other things could you do differently this year to achieve different results?
Have you considered your habits, character, attitude etc? It is a very good idea to take a cup of what ever you love to take whilst in relaxation mode (hoping that it is not intoxicating, because you need a very sober mind for this ...lol), get out your paper pad or notebook or better yet your brain dump, a pen and let's get to work!
First off, how were your habits prior to 2019. Habits that I personally struggled with for a long while included:
Punctuality: Whether to work, church or appointments. I just loved to 'take my time'. Now this is not very good because serious people view people who do not respect their time as 'no good' to work with and you do not want to miss big opportunities this year right? If you do not value your time, you very likely will not value other people's time too. So get on board and if you have to set your alarm clock for every block of your day's activities so that they are all done and on time, please, please do. With time it will become a normal way of life for you and you will begin to function in them like clock work.
Procrastination: This babe here has always procrastinated for as long as I can remember. I always felt there was time until it got so close to deadlines that I had to work extra time under real pressure to get the work done and off the ground and sometimes it just didn't work out. A good way to deal with this is to act on a matter immediately it crosses your mind (if not written down) and to always draw a task or to do list every day of your life going forward. Form a habit of checking and cross checking your drawn out list at intervals within a day to ensure that you have addressed all that needs to be addressed for that day and that you have not left anything out. I usually strikeout activities as I complete them in my planner.
Now there will always be times where it appears that you might not meet up all that you planned for a day and that is okay, just ensure that what ever you carry over to the next day can actually wait without repercussions. Also, do not make it a habit of carrying over tasks drawn for a day, this is why you should always ensure that your daily plans are realistic enough to achieve in one day. It is also a great idea to avoid crowing tasks into a day. See how you can spread your plans throughout a week and or a month, keeping in mind that you need to prioritize between urgent, not so urgent, or not urgent. More of this you can read up in my post 'Starting To Plan Functionally'.
Your character: A sure fire way to loose good relationships is having or displaying bad character. Not many people can accommodate a person who is rude on steroids, lives by curse words, in general have a character that stinks. Learn to be civil as much as possible. It is a good thing to not speak rather than spew rubbish from your mouth. How about how you treat people or things. Are you more interested in keeping your own things in good condition and safe while you misuse other people's property or care less what happens to things if they are not yours? If this mirrors you, then it is time you make a decision to be different in 2019. It doesn't matter that you leave behind a trail of gaping mouths in your wake because you are acting out your decision to be different and better. At least that will be a good thing.
Your attitude: What is your attitude to change like? Your disposition to things you do this year will determine to a large extent the kind of success you will achieve. Take a serious look at your attitude to planning, saving, working or playing (of course!).
Now, now, these are usually the type of things to do for the new year's resolution but unless you choose to see every single day of 2019 as the beginning of the year (even in July or November), you might not likely go past January 31st to drop your new resolutions. Let this year be that different year that you decide to do the complete opposite of all that got you fail as result previously.
This is by no means an easy task especially for those who have practiced these negatives for so long that it is now a part of them. I personally tried for a full one year before I came around with good news. This does not mean that you might take that long to come around. We are all different and our self will muscles differ as well.
Now for all that, I will tell you, there is no magic to it. It requires you to work hard and/or put in real effort and determination to get you there. So, carefully plan the dive into a very different year and make sure to dive that very plan!
Welcome to a very happy different new year!