The last couple of years I’ve taken the last day of the year to reflect. What have I done this year? What did I achieve? What people are important to me? Who should I spend less or more time with? What have I done the last week? The last month? How much money do I have left from last month, last year?
A good indicator of my next 365 days, is how I spend the average week today. If I’m constantly out of time to write and improve my work. Completely drained of energy after work. Missing brazilian jiu-jitsu practice. Not enough time to read interesting biographies of great people. There is a high probability that I will stay, tired and out of time for the whole next year.
What is really awesome, is that it’s rather simple to change. Not easy, but simple.
Just by taking 15 minutes to write some, read some, research some, Is VERY IMPORTANT. It’s a statement to yourself. That you will change! You are taking the necessary steps to achieve your dream. Let’s say I write for 15 minutes on Monday, 6 minutes on Tuesday, 22 minutes on Wednesday, 45 minutes on Thursday, 5 minutes on Friday, 90 minutes on Saturday and 120 minutes on Sunday. It adds up to 303 minutes! That’s five hours work. 20 hours in a month.
It might sound negligible. But it’s the catalyst for greatness. It’s a snowball that starts as a tiny ball. Just a handful of snowflakes, barely filling the palm. But given time, day after day, week after week, month after month, 365 days later. That’s 263 hours you’ve worked towards your dream.
Make every minute count. Because it could be your last.
Today I had lunch with my best friend. The one person that made me who I am today. He’s had an hell of an year. He’s lost two people really close to him. And a third he found out, after he was about to deliver the news of his own loss. I’m so sorry for him. One of them I was really close with and had helped me a lot in the gym. Make every minute you are alive, count. Do what you are passionate about as often as you can!
Every attempt we make, or situation we end up in. Will make us stronger or weaker.
By taking time to reflect. It helps us see what underlying behavior made us end up here. How we came to be where we are right now. The reason I’ve been stuck in the past, not going anywhere. Is because I didn’t have goals. Or I had goals but didn’t write them down. I didn’t have a clear action plan of what habit I should follow to achieve this goal. I just expected to get results from mindless repetition of the same action. It could work in some cases. But I had not thought it through and reflect on why I am doing this.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein
This week I went to the library to lend “Think and Grow Rich”. This book has so many great things in it. I haven’t reread it fully yet, but what I would like to share are some questions you may want to ask yourself of the past year.
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Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this year?
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Have I done as best as I could, or could I have done even better?
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Have I done as much as humanly possible?
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Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious, and cooperative at all times?
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Have I allowed myself to procrastinate to my disadvantage and if so, to what extent?
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Have I developed my personality and if so, how?
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Have I used my time wisely by budgeting it, my costs, my income, and have I been conservative in these budgets?
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How much time have I spent on unprofitable endeavors, that I could have done better things?
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How may I use my time more wisely and be more effective the coming year?
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Have I been guilty of any conduct which was not approved by my conscience?
These are 10 of 28 questions and many more worthwhile thoughts. It’s made a big impact on me. Especially the part of autosuggestion where you re-affirm your plan morning and night. In short:
Tell yourself what you want to achieve. What you are going to offer in turn. That you will practice what you know now. Until a plan realizes before you, showing how to achieve it. Then act upon it! Knowing that you will achieve your goal. With a calm and relaxed mind, there is no other way that you will achieve your goal. Write it down. Read it every morning and evening. Believe it.
Let this past year be a reminder
Whenever you feel the urge to procrastinate. Squash the thought and DO what you REALLY want. You are here reading this. You know what you want. You know what you need to do. You have my permission to do it. If you don’t find immediate success, just try again. Try it until you become a little better. Have faith and persistence.
When you are persistent, the magic starts to happen. When I first started my martial arts practiced. For the first 60 days. I just wanted to quit. It was so hard. Everyone was so good. I couldn’t do anything. Every day I wanted to give up. To quit. I gave up hundreds of times to the people I practiced with.
But I had faith and persistence
Knew this is something I had to do. So I showed up. Every week. Two or three times. Up to five times when possible. And I reaped the rewards. Now it’s 600 days later and I’ve overcome the urgency to quit. It’s much easier now then 599 days ago.
That urge to quit is still there, but now more like a fly that is easily squashed. When it used to be a huge lion roaring in my face making me tremble.
Take this last day of the year for self reflection. Find what went well. Practice what you need to achieve your desires. One small step every day.