There’s something about the beginning of the year that craves self-evaluation. The cliché "new year, new me" hype that accompanies that annual landmark accounts for the predictable spike in self-help book sales and dramatic surges in gym memberships across the nation. The month of January is like our collective birthday, and there’s nothing wrong with taking this opportunity to examine our progress. It’s not the concept of New Year’s Resolutions that I find so annoying as much as the lack of follow-through that often shadows it. But this year I have decided to embrace the New Year as a chance to get (and maintain) my life.
If you are on a mission to accomplish your goals this year, feel free to join me in following these 7 practical steps to do what the hell you said you'd do in 2017:
1. Stay out of your feelings
Photo: Scandal
Setting goals is the easy part but success is determined by what you do once that enthusiasm wanes. Whether your goal is to score all As this semester, start a new workout regime or nail your quarterly goals at work, there will be times when you just don’t feel like it. Damn your feelings! If your follow-through is based on how you feel, it’ll never get done.
2. Formulate a plan
Success doesn’t happen by accident, and nothing gets accomplished without a plan. Set your goal, divide it into chunks, write it down, assign yourself some deadlines and get to work. Tomorrow’s results are a direct reflection of today’s preparation.
3. Be consistent
Photo: Red Bull
Meeting your objectives will require a change in routine, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be drastic. If you want to shed a few pounds, start by trading that morning cream cheese bagel for an apple. Once you do that for a couple of weeks, commit to taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Keep raising the stakes little by little and eventually, you’ll be the star of your own Rocky training montage.
4. Take control
You don’t have to wait and see what this year’s going to bring. You have the power to be the architect of your own life. If you’re feeling stagnate in your career, ask yourself: What job do I really want? Find the description for that role, take a course, earn the necessary certifications and get a mentor. If you don’t like where you are today, do something about it.
5. Mute the noise.
Photo: www.whitehouse.gov
It’s as easy to thrive in positive, affirming environments as it is to become stifled around people who are condescending, harsh and repressive. My performance can go from brilliant to uninspired in 2.5 seconds based on my environment. This is unacceptable. You can’t always control your environment or how others receive you, but you can control your reaction to it. There will always be those who will mock your ambitions and try to impose their limitations on you, but their influence is only as powerful as you make it. If you’re going to accomplish anything, you’ve got to mute that noise and stay on your mission.
6. Make good decisions
Everything you’ve ever accomplished, whether good or bad, is the direct result of the choices you’ve made. You would not have earned that degree without first making a decision to go to class, and you wouldn’t have to pay that speeding ticket if you hadn’t first made the decision to speed. Every decision comes with consequences.
7. Watch your intake
Photo: Dumb and Dumber
The messages you ingest, the images on your timeline and even the music you listen to all have an impact on your thoughts and consciousness. Make a concerted effort to seek out positive messaging and try to limit your exposure to junk.
You know you got this, right? Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Focus on what it is that you came to do. Measure your progress against your own goals and focus on being a better you than you were last year. It won’t be easy, and you’re going to rub up against some barriers along the way, but if you're willing to apply discipline, consistency and focus, you are 100 percent capable of achieving your goals in 2017 and beyond.
Now, let’s go get it.
Photo: yahooentertainment.tumblr.com
The transition into adulthood isn’t an easy one. Navigating relationships, managing workplace politics, hitting those milestones on schedule— don’t be fooled, no one knows what they’re doing. There will be all kinds of fumbles, blunders and awkward missteps along the way. If you’re constantly wondering to yourself, “Am I doing this right?” Welcome. This is just the place for you.Want more articles from Ebony F? Sign up for Blavity's daily newsletter.
