Preparing for the New Year.

I am a fan of Jessica Araus so I was thrilled when she gave me the green light to post her article. I think it is perfect food for thought when we look to the New Year.

DON'T WAIT FOR MONDAY... START TODAY

There will be days when you don’t follow your diet plan, you skip your workout, or you don’t work toward your vision. We all have days we don’t do what we said we were going to do. However, even if you consider an entire day to be a failure, I encourage you to pick yourself up and continue working toward your goals as soon as you can. Every day is a fresh beginning and a new opportunity to get things done. If you really want to make a change in your life, you have to be willing to accept failure and move on. You might have had a bad day, or maybe two, but don’t let it be three. Make proper use of your time starting now.

It’s easy to come up with excuses for why we can’t get things done today. We tell ourselves we’ll get it done “tomorrow,” or in the worst case, we’ll wait until it is Monday again. However, when you are clear on your vision, you won’t want to wait for Monday. You’ll want to start as soon as possible.

There have been times in my life when things didn’t go as I planned or wanted, but I never waited for Monday to start over again. I always had hope that tomorrow was going to be a better day, and I looked forward to every day.

So, what is your vision?

Perhaps you want to travel the world with your partner, get in shape, or help your family financially. Regardless of your plan, think of the people you are failing when you are delaying this goal, waiting for another Monday to come. Is it your family, your spouse, or maybe yourself? Realize that the sooner you take action, the earlier you’ll accomplish your goals. No matter what it is, start doing something today to move toward your vision. It can be as small as working out for 10 minutes, writing one good page, taking an hour to promote your business, or saving $10 for your next holiday. Success will not simply happen to you. You have to make it happen.

What is distracting you?

If you got stuck on Wednesday, take a moment to reflect on what went wrong. Perhaps you need to prioritize your activities and start the next day with your most important task. Get up earlier if needed and get it done. It’s important to be really honest with yourself and accept when you’ve been devoting time to things that are distracting you. Whether it’s negative thoughts, junk food, or procrastination, whatever isn’t serving your vision, drop it now and move on.

Treat each day as if it were a Monday, and you’ll start seeing results. What separates the successful from the rest is how they manage their time. No matter what your situation is right now, you can always rewrite your plan and change your story. All you need is the right mindset; the rest will take care of itself.

BY JESSICA ARAUS        November 15, 2017