The New Year is a fabulous chance to start with a clean slate and an opportunity to capture on clean piece of paper your true hearts desires for the year ahead. It doesn’t need to be perfect – just give yourself some time to reflect as we say goodbye to 2014 to create the most amazing 2015. How Will You Make 2015 Your Best Year? What three things will you do differently that “will cause you to DIVE” – activities that move you forward from zero to 10 miles per hour, or from 10 to 40 mph, or from 40 to 90 mph to make 2015 your best year ever. The reason I encourage you to streamline your DIVE to only three is because each of these activities will have numerous sub-activities beneath them, which will leave plenty of work to be done! I prefer the term DIVE as opposed to Goal. Goals are binary—you achieve them and feel great or you don’t and feel lousy. Once you determine your DIVE, create and follow a plan to achieve them you’ll begin to see daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual results. These are Tangible results that keep you excited and they build and maintain your MOMENTUM.
There you go!
The three things I believe you, as a leader, should focus on right now to ensure that 2015 is your best year ever:
Adopting an Attitude of Personal Accountability
High achievers will tell you that life takes on meaning when you take responsibility for your actions and pursue your goals with purpose and passion. Adopting an attitude of personal accountability means you have more control over your destiny…you become a contributor instead of a passive observer, others look to you for leadership, you gain a reputation as a problem solver…You experience the satisfaction that comes from getting things done…there’s less anger, frustration and helplessness, which in turn leads to better physical health…There’s a positive spillover into your personal and spiritual life. According to Mac Anderson: ‘Something magical happens when we accept personal responsibility for our behaviour and results. I know this is not easy…as it’s human nature to ‘pass the buck’. So, reflecting on the past years, in every instance it comes back to choices I have made that put me exactly where I am today. So in 2015, I will increase my accountability to myself, my Peers, Mentor and above all to God.
Listen to Your Inner Voice
Effort without direction may not amount to anything of value. ‘So where are we going?’ You may ask. That is what all followers want to know. This is what leaders pretend to be sure of. The reality is that the most successful leaders walk by faith – hence have difficulty answering that one dreadful question. They have difficulty because faith is an abstract and the question is asking for a concrete answer. It is that inner feeling, that “Yes, I am looking for something. There is something in here for me. I do not know exactly what it is but when I see it, I will know it.” How will you know? Quite honestly, I am not sure. All I know is that when it is in front of me, I will know that this is it. In essence, what I am saying is that there is a compass in our souls that inform us inwardly when it is the right man, the right woman, or whatever it is we pursue. Across many walks of life, one thing that highly successful people have in common is that they know. If you read about the stories of huge, successful people you will find a few commonalities, namely that they all had an unwavering belief in themselves. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard because he knew he’d be successful in life and that it was time for him to join the business world. John Lennon, one of the greatest influencers of music in our time and Steven Tyler both said that they knew they were great musicians before anyone else did. Sam Walten believed in himself and what he was creating even when he was 2 million dollars in debt and trying to get Walmart off the ground. Although the Internet has made the problem worse, because now you get more ‘messages’ in one day than you used to get in a month. So when your ‘inner voice’ tells you something contrary to messages received on the Internet, you end up frustrated, feeling like ‘nothing is getting done’. If you don’t listen to your inner voice, the most forceful people will set the course for your life. Don’t be paralyzed by the noise, be the architect of your future. So for me in 2015, I have resolved to do less research and analyzing, but to Listen and Obey my inner Voice. Tweet: “Don’t be paralyzed by the noise, be the architect of your future”
Take Your Leadership To The Next Level
One of the things I like about the New Year is a chance to show up and make a difference! Even though there will be new challenges –the good news – leaders love challenges. Without them, there’s no need for leadership. Two reasons why I love challenges: 1. They provide opportunities for Growth – You are able to grow your thoughts and your personal life. Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. So in 2015, one of mine is to attend Georgetown University for my Leadership Coaching Certification. I will learn and grow in 2015! 2. They provide opportunities for Impact – As a leader, what you do matters. Think for a moment about the impact you can have on your team, your organisation, your family, your community, and the causes where you volunteer your services. So in 2015, I am bringing on board two new people to join the team. With their support, we will be able to face challenges presented with in 2015.
What will you do in 2015 to make a difference?
With best wishes
