How I Prepare for Success in a New Year

Each year brings tremendous opportunity.  Unfortunately, most people miss out on a lot of the opportunity available to them.

This happens for a few reasons.

First, one of our biggest problems we have as a society is that we have been conditioned to be an "instant society" and expect everything immediately.  I often say "we stop the microwave with 3 seconds left - we cannot even wait 3 seconds."  This poses a problem when striving for success and for capitalizing on opportunities, because much of the time success is not an instant thing.  

The most important thing I do from a mindset approach when planning for a new year is to understand and take to heart this simple wisdom, "We overestimate what we can accomplish in a week and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year."  I am as guilty as anyone of getting wrapped up in the instantness of life and I have to diligently work to keep perspective and keep going, knowing that if I do, a year from now, I will look back and have accomplished many great things.

Second, I take time each year between Christmas and New Year's (usually a full day) to think hard on the successes and failures of the last year.  I write down my big takeaways and how I can use what I learned to help me in the next year.  I also take that time to review my principles and core values to make sure everything still aligns.  I then review each of my businesses and pick the 2 most important things I want to accomplish in them for the year.  My goal is to accomplish those early on in the year, then pick 2 more and go after those and so on.  I have found that working on just 2 at a time helps me to reach success faster because I am focused.

Third, I take time to look at my personal and family life and do the same exercise looking at my mistakes/failures, principles/values, and deciding on the 2 most important things I want to focus on to start the year.  If things are not aligned in your personal/family life, it makes it very hard to succeed in anything.  I then share all of this with my wife and daughter, to get feedback and make sure we are on the same page together.

Once, I've done this, I then put it into a 1 page document that I can refer back to throughout the year.  It is always amazing how at the end of the year when I refer back to it, how much I have been able to accomplish and what I've added as the year goes on.

Remember, "most overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they can do in a year."  Be the latter. 

​Here's to your success!