October is here and November is on the way, so it seems like the perfect time to be asking, “How are you going this year?” Are you on track to accomplish everything that you thought you would at the start of the year? How has the year gone for you, did it unfold the way you expected, or did you have to make some course corrections along the way?
I’ve found that for most people, November seems to signal the official start of “The Yearly Wind Down”. It definitely seemed to always be the case when I was working in the Corporate World. November was when everyone began to slow down, start thinking about the Christmas Party and put those big jobs on hold until next year. Because next year is full of promise and you feel like next year is such a long time, I mean 12 whole months, you can surely accomplish anything, next year.
And yet most people, when they stop at the end of the year, lament that they haven’t quite ticked everything off their list THIS YEAR, and if the pattern continues, next year is unlikely to be any different.
And to be perfectly honest, when I was working in the Corporate World, I used to fall victim to the Yearly Wind Down in November too. Last year however, as I was no longer part of the Corporate World, that mentality didn’t have a chance to penetrate my thinking. I have chosen a path that puts me in direct control of my own life now. So last year, I actually had probably the most productive end to a year ever!
That wasn’t by chance, it was the result of a deliberate decision on my part, around this time last year, to really step up and power on strong to the finish line, so that I could finish the year on a high. And now has come the time this year when it’s time for me to do the same again. It’s time for you to do the same too, and you NEED to if you want to really finish the year on a high.
The problem we face is that by the time November comes around each year, we start to realise that we are 11/12 of the way through the year and we quite often haven’t achieved 11/12 of what we though we would.
And I’m here to tell you, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! That’s because a year will NEVER go exactly according to plan. Even if you can completely control yourself, you’ll never be able to completely control all of the outside elements that effect the world around you.
If you start the year right, by setting goals (which you should!) you’ll have a pretty clear idea of all the things that you want to accomplish in the year. Over the course of a typical 12 months in any year, some things will work for you, some things you may need to rethink. At times, new opportunities that weren’t on your radar will present themselves, new challenges you couldn’t have foreseen will arise. You’ll have to make some course corrections along the way.
Imagine a plane flying from Sydney to L.A. A plane will be off course for 90% of its journey, yet it still manages to make its destination by making constant course corrections. Think about that for a moment. It knows EXACTLY where it’s going, it plans exactly the route it needs to take. Yet along the way, there’s some wind gusts that push it a little this way, something else pushes it a little that way, there’s some turbulence to avoid. All these things need to be dealt with by making constant course corrections.
Well, so too, that’s what a typical year is going to look like for all of us. There’s going to be highs and lows, things that we need to adjust to. And it’s usually this time of year that it is easy to start falling into the winding down trap. We think there’s not enough time to achieve some of the things we haven’t done yet, so we put them off till next year, because “Everything is possible next year!”.
But it is at precisely this time of year that we need to think differently, we need to start to challenge ourselves, not to wind down, but to step up! When I worked in Direct Sales and I was on the road, I once had a Sales Manager who taught me, always finish the day on a sale. No matter how good or bad the day has been, always make your last call a sale! If you came home having just had a sale, it sets you up for a good day tomorrow.
At the start of this year, I had this amazing energy and optimism which was a direct result of feeling so good about what I was able to accomplish in the last few months of last year, the time when I would otherwise have been winding down.
Someone once told me the 3 Keys To Rapid Success.
Get BUSY!
Get Very BUSY!
Get Extremely BUSY!
So power up, put extra energy into everything you do! The key to finishing this year on a massive high is going to be a combination of energy and strategy. You supply the energy and I’ll help you with the strategy.
So Here Are My Practical Tips For Finishing 2017 On A HIGH!
Make a list of all the things you wanted to do at the start of the year.
Write down any other significant things that weren’t on your radar at the start of the year, but have since presented themselves.
For each one, write if you’re still on track, behind schedule, or if the Goal has changed.
Now, look at all the things that you have written down. Ask yourself theses questions.
What is the 1 thing, if you accomplished it, would give you the biggest result this year?
What is the 1 thing, if you accomplished it, would give you the most momentum for a powerful start to 2018?
Now, you may have 2 things written down or they may both have been the same. Either way, your challenge now is work out…
What are you going to put in place now to ensure that you hit those targets by the end of the year?
What actions are you going to take, that you perhaps weren’t taking before, to ensure that this gets done?
Leave me your answers in the Comments section below…