4 Must Do Secrets to Get 2017 Started Right

The most successful have secret rituals and habits that help them reach their success and keep them there. And for many, these are specific to them and how to they operate, but there are a few secrets that transcend across the most successful that they all seem to do in some way or another...especially when it comes to getting ready for a New Year.

Below are 4 must do success secrets to help you get off to a great start in 2017.

Put a Value on Your Time and Set Your Schedule

Successful people know their value and self-worth.  They know exactly what an hour or day of their time costs and make sure to set themselves up to maximize them.  You can do the same.  First, take some time to decide what you are really worth.  What can you charge for your services, knowledge, and experience in the marketplace?  Get to an hourly rate.

Next, ask yourself if the tasks you are putting into a normal day are tasks that are worth that rate or more. If they are not, as it is with most people, then you need to re-tool your schedule and priorities.

We've talked about the importance of planning your day (and even week and month) ahead of time in this blog before.  But, more important is to make sure you are planning with your self-worth in mind.  The most successful keep very tight and rigid schedules and are ruthlessly guarded about their time.  They know it's the one thing we all have the same amount of - the great equalizer.  And they make sure that they are spending each hour on their most important, most valuable tasks and either finding a way to automate or delegate/outsource/eliminate the rest.

Here is how you can set this up in your life.  You need to make sure that you are setting aside time every day, uninterrupted for priorities and the things that are most important in your success.  For me, that is time to laser focus each day on the top priorities in each of my businesses.  Every year at this time, I review and rework my schedule for the next year.  I block times out on my calendar for the whole year specific to each one my entities on certain days of the week for uniterrupted, focused work.  These remain on my shared calendars and tell everyone when I am available and when I am not.  Additionally, I block off thinking time each month, as well as my daily workout times (physical fitness is just as important as mental to me).  This is how I control my time before the year even starts and don't give others the ability to "take it" as they would do if these times were not blocked out.

“Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.”

Set Serious, Focused Goals

Ok, you've heard a hundred how important goals are...blah, blah, blah.  Well, they are important.  Goals are the beacons that guide you to your next levels and give you and your mind direction, something to strive for. But, just writing some things down on paper without truly thinking them through is really not setting goals and will not help you.

You need to set, clear, serious, focused goals.  That means you actually take the time to truly explore if what you think is a goal is really a goal and not just a platitude or something you write down to say you have goals.

But, that takes TOO much time, you are probably thinking or hearing your brain tell you.  Does it?  How do you know if you've never really done it?  Is an hour too much time?  And, if you have found yourself in the trap where you just write down things to go through the motions and haven't achieved what you desire; do you maybe think it's time to do things differently?

The good news is that I spent several years learning from the best on how to set goals and boiled it all down into a simple, easy, step by step hour long exercise.  It was put into my first book, The Ten Year Career, and you can find it along with the materials here.  It's my gift for you!

Remove the Obstacles

We all have things in our lives that are known obstacles or that keep up from getting what we want.  And we know we need to remove them and get rid of them, but for many it's either too time consuming to do so (I'll get to it later) or it's something they won't to deal with.  It's time to deal with it.

The first point on planning out your schedule will help you with this.  If you have things that drain you or time vampires in your life, simply schedule yourself out of them, so they cannot impact you any more.

Conversely, if you have people in your life that you know you need to eliminate because they are a bad influence or drag you down, now is the time to make the commitment to do so.

Lastly, do the reverse and make sure to include the things that will help you grow and reach new levels. Maybe it is finally joining an elite mastermind group or committing to a personal growth regiment.

Make It Known

The last success secret is to make these things known to others around you.  Don't keep them to yourself and don't be shy about it.  Make sure people know how valuable your time is and why you keep a schedule the way you do.  Make sure to tell them in a humble way and explain how it helps all that are impacted by your endeavors.  People will respect you and respect your wishes if you share them and ask them to do so.  

Next, pick a few people to share your goals with.  This is critical as it makes you accountable.  Once you have shared your goals with others, it gives that extra added push to make sure you reach them and stay true to them.  As for the people you should share them with...that is up to you.  Personally, I share them with my wife, my business partners, and 2 people (usually mentors or mastermind members) that I consider more successful than me and that I know will hold me accountable to them and ask me about them throughout the year.  Others do the same with me.

Removing the obstacles can be tough, especially if it means eliminating certain people from your life. Here's my advice here.   Get tough.  You know what you need to do and you know the difference it will make in your life and for those you impact.  You also know it is the best thing for all parties.  If you want to truly grow, you have to be able to handle problems and issues that come up in your life.  And the bigger the problems you grow yourself to handle, the bigger you will grow as a person and the bigger the size of your success will grow with it.  It's time.  Make the hard decisions and act.

The majority of people are not deliberate about life and their success.  They are just not.  They wander through life and make it through, but they miss out on unleashing their true potential and impact they can have on the world.  You were born to do great things.  Be deliberate about your life and success and go out and do them!  Here's to a great 2017 - Your best year yet!