• Start by reviewing the year so far - The 5 Star system

• Don’t just plan, take action

• Don’t just make resolutions, do this instead

• Tweet of the week

#1. Start by reviewing the year so far - The 5 Star system

Most people have a habit of checking to see if there is anything they might have forgotten, before heading out of the house. This is a good practice that is less commonly applied on a larger scale. As 2023 winds down, it is time to quickly reflect on how the year went. Here are three key things to reflect on;

1. Your achievements

2. Your mistakes, and

3. The lessons you learned

Of these three, there are two that are most important. These are your achievements and the lessons you learned. Your achievements will be a constant source of motivation as you kickstart your 2024 and with the lessons you’ve learned, you are sure not to repeat the same mistakes.

Speaking of the mistakes you’ve made in 2023, it may feel as if they were avoidable, but you are only feeling that way because you know better now. Don’t dwell on your mistakes for too long, they will only cloud your vision, lower your self-esteem, and drain you of much-needed motivation.

You don’t want to start the new year feeling defeated. Let me throw in one more tip. After you have reviewed the year, give it a rating out of 5 Stars. This is something I practice often. My goal is to always have a 5-star Year. Knowing that you have to review your performance at the end of the year, will push you to always put your best foot forward.

#2. Don’t just plan, Take action

Without taking action, your dreams will remain just that, dreams. No amount of wishes can bring your dreams to pass. The same can also be said about planning or resolutions (more on this later). No matter how meticulous you plan your 2024 or how great your resolution may be, everything will remain the same way if you don’t take action.

Then again, not every action is useful. What do I mean by this? Imagine you want to go from point A to B and you hit the road without any knowledge of how you’ll get to your destination. One of two things is going to happen, it’s either you get lost along the way or you will get to your destination after wasting so much time.

These outcomes are inevitable because you would have taken several wrong turns, which is why planning is essential. However, you shouldn't get stuck in the planning phase. Remember the whole essence of planning is so you know what actions to take and take these actions with surgical precision.

The final step is as important as the first step. As the saying goes, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” However, a well-laid-out plan is still not helpful if you fail to take action.

#3. Don’t just make resolutions - Do this instead

The third thing to do as you prepare for the new year is to have a long list of resolutions (that is if you are like most other people). Resolutions are great if you have the willpower to stick to them. Otherwise, they are just one of many “New Year Traditions”, which eventually get dumped as the year goes on.

If you are out to make meaningful changes in the coming year, here is something I suggest you try - Mood boards. Yes, this is nothing new. Long before mood boards became a thing, as kids, it wasn’t uncommon to place little cutouts of our mentors or heroes where we could see them.

This was a source of inspiration and it still is even up to this day. Unlike goals and resolutions, your mood board can evoke very strong emotions that will drive you toward your goal. Much more than what you get from a long list of goals or resolutions.

If I ask what your dream car or house looks like, an image of the car or house will instantly come to mind and evoke a strong feeling within you. After a while, the image goes away and so does the feeling. But if you happen to see the car drive by, you get to experience that emotion once again.

What I am trying to demonstrate here is that it is easier to stay motivated and work toward your goal if you have a concrete picture of what achieving that goal looks like to you. Better still if that picture is in a place you get to see every day. Is your goal to start a business or grow one in 2024? Then ask yourself, what does it look like when you achieve that goal?

How you measure your success depends on you. It could be by how many customers you gain or how much revenue you turn in. All you need to do is have an image of the goal on your mood board. You can spice things up by breaking down the steps to achieve your goals and placing a picture that represents each step on your mood board.

However you want to organize your mood board is great, as long as it evokes the right emotions.

Tweet of the week

New Year = A New Life! Decide today who you will become, what you will give how you will live

(Tony Robbins)