As a football match comes to an end, the players and officials
gradually walk out of the pitch which was once abuzz, spectators and fan clubs
also gravitate toward the exit because it is all over. The adrenaline rush
resolves on its own as the time to bamboozle the crowd is gone. It is at this
time that players go over their performances individually or with their teams,
then the reality of how well or how terribly they dribbled, played or caught
balls comes to light. At this point, nothing can be changed, only learning
points can be picked out of the victory or the loss.
2018 is gone, the game is over and you are at that point of
review, of self-reflection. You may be thinking of how well you followed
through with the plans you made last January, your blueprint for a perfect
2018. As reality dawns with the surprise of how time flew by, you can't help
but wonder if you maximized your use of 365 days or not. Did you? This can
create a level of anxiety that can make you quickly scribble down resolutions
to ensure the new year is better, the clock stands ticking.
As humans, we usually tend toward the negative, the plans we
wished we could but did not achieve; the trips we hoped to make, the
relationships we wanted to groom, the
courses we wanted to take. You are not alone, before you beat yourself
up, remember that your review is not to judge yourself good or bad, worthy or
worthless; but to prepare yourself to do it better this new year.
The points below will help you with your plans for 2019:
1. Be Completely Honest with Yourself: Say it
as it is and get the help that you need, for your strengths and weaknesses.
2. Celebrate Your Successes: Don’t focus on
what you missed or beat yourself up to the point of feeling hopeless. Begin by
celebrating what you achieved, big or small. This will give you healthy energy
to tackle the challenges.
3. Have a Plan: You need to spell out your
plan, a SMART one as well as alternate plans, in case the initial one doesn’t
work out as expected. Also, periodic reviews will help check your progress, instead of waiting till December for a review.
4. Get a Mentor: Some people feel this is
unnecessary, but it is highly important to have someone who has gone ahead on a
like path, lead you. It saves you a lot of hassle, helps you focus,
especially when you know that someone will require a progress report from you.
5. Choose Your
Circle: This may be difficult, but if you want to be excellent, please ‘walk’
with excellent people. If you want to be excellent in business, you cannot make
people who are ‘short-cut specialists’ your best friends. Find people who have
like values and who are headed in the same direction you want to go.
6. Plan Fun: You have to do it smiling. It is
a long year ahead, so there is enough time to incorporate fun in your schedule.
Laugh, play games, go on vacations or do whatever makes you smile, but make
your plans now so your ideas will not come as afterthoughts.
Welcome to 2019 and I expect you will make the best of it.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
Copyright (C) 2019 Omonefe O. Eruotor
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