The beginning of this year magically appeared – albeit full of champagne, excitement, PAC-MAN and love – it still snuck up on me faster than Crayola could take down the boobs.
And from what I’ve heard – 2015 caught quite a few others by surprise as well.
I noticed while talking with clients, that many of us skipped a crucial step this year when setting our intentions, which resulted in defeat before we even began.
“Exhausted, lacking motivation, and completely un-inspired.”
This is what people were telling me they felt during Week 1 of the new year. Not good.
And no rah-rah quote, cat poster or Shake It Off dash-cam vid was gonna pull them through. They. Were. Over It.
Fair enough – I had also had enough of the resolution & goals talk for a while. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have dreams this year that I damn well plan on going after.
And some of my dreams are worth finding energy for… as are yours.
So I’ve got to ask…
Did you skip this crucial step?
The one step that if skipped could be the sure reason for failure (or at least make the process a hell of a lot more grueling).
Let’s call it a Closing Ceremony for 2014…. one that is meaningful and realistic, that sets you up to kill it in 2015.
If you forgot this step, feel free to “re-engage with your intentions” later tonight.
You have to start with T & A.
The more T&A the better (I read that after it came out on the page – and it made me love it even more).
T = THANKFUL FOR
A = ACCOMPLISHED
You’ve got to write down, and cement all of the things you’ve accomplished + and were grateful for in 2014. Every single major athlete, entrepreneur, and spiritual leader does this before taking on any big new hurdles.
They build their confidence in a way that only they can do.
We tend to ignore our accomplishments… and that makes all the difference.
If you’re like me – you probably tend to be a little hard on yourself, constantly seeing room for improvement, and there is no way in hell you are going to sit there all day reminding yourself how “awesome” you are.
But what if I told you that all you’re doing by ignoring your big (and small) accomplishments is strengthening your insecurity muscle and leaving your confidence muscle to deteriorate quietly and quickly.
“When you look to your past, you’ll realize that successes often outweigh failures. And, more importantly, that you survived through the failures and gleaned priceless lessons along the way. ” Even the Harvard Business Review agrees.
Time to face the facts – you’ve probably done some killer shit.
The day has come to celebrate that, write it down – acknowledge it – let it be your starting place for this year.
Accomplishments need to be celebrated… and blessings need our acknowledgment.
Besides the warm fuzzies you will get by writing these down – it gives you some much needed perspective. This practice will help you:
Clear out the clutter of the non-important, and focus on the meaningful.
It allows us to rise above all the nitty gritty – be human and brave and connected – and not over-consumed with our to-do list.
Plus… It’s science.
There are a lot of ongoing studies around gratitude and happiness – some great ones coming from Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., the leading gratitude researcher & the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology (check out Marcus Mariota’s touching Heisman Trophyacceptance speech to remind you of the power of gratitude).
We are even told that grateful people are more likely to have lower blood pressure, stronger immune systems, more positive emotions – such as joy, optimism, happiness, and compassion as well as feeling less lonely and isolated.
So…
Ready to re-engage?
Think about those “intentions” or “resolutions” or “goals” that really mean something and are genuinely important to go after – even if you’ve already hit a speed bump in these first few weeks.
Picking yourself back up is proof you are trying.
Your Mission: Pour yourself a cup of tea, glass of wine – chocolate is a must, I also enjoy a good candle – and get after that T&A list today.
Write it down somewhere you can access it when needed. Try to hit 50 on each list. Nothing is too big or too small. Get specific. My list is in Evernote so I can access it whenever I need a reminder, others like a journal, I even have clients who put it up on their walls and keep adding.
Whatever your pleasure – just make sure you set yourself up to kill it this year.
Good luck. Keep me posted on how it goes!
xx, Kelsey