The New Years 2020 Experience!

20 Ways To Make This Your Best Decade!

 A new year and a new you, right? We have heard it all before… but how has that gone for you?

I will admit, I have fallen into that same trap of thinking too small. I have fallen into the trap of thinking too short term and therefore not been as successful as I could have been with my goals.

But I think therein lies the issue! Who says I wasn’t successful? Maybe in that brief moment I wasn’t successful, but is success purely a moment to moment thing?

I think we need to look at our lives and goals more like the stock market. If you look and judge your success from a moment to moment, or even day to day focus, it will drive you crazy! We can become overwhelmed with the fluctuations with what we deem successful or not.

We must pull back and look at a broader view… So my challenge to you now is making this DECADE GREAT!

So, without further ado, here are my 20 ways to make this DECADE your best one yet!

1.    Broaden Your Timeline: We have a tendency to overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can do in 5 or 10. Pull your scope back and plan to be successful over the next 10 years! The adversity you face along the way will be but a small bump on the road when you look at it that way.

2.    Invest in Your Relationships: Be sure to set up at least 1 date night with your significant other every month. I know that is hard because it is something I have to set a big intention for as well!

3.    Be the most positive person you know: Positivity is contagious! Be sure to spread that positive energy and avoid the energy vampires in life.

4.    Put Your Blinders On: No more comparing yourself. You are designed with a specific purpose in mind and have a specific purpose for you! Put the blinders on and stop comparing yourself to everyone on social media or what the world “says” you should do or be.

5.    Turn Your Phone Off: Technology can be an amazing thing, but it can also be the biggest distraction. Make sure that the time you are spending with those you love the most is more than what your screen time averages out to be!

6.    Create a vision for you family: Where is you family going? What do they stand for? What is your family’s legacy going to be? Set some intentions for your family and begin living into that legacy.

7.    Write out your tombstone statement: I put this here not to be morbid, but rather to motivate! Your life will one day be contained in a dash between two dates on a tombstone. What are you making that dash mean? Are you changing lives with your dash? What will others say about you dash? How impactful will it be?

8.    Focus on what you DO want, not what you DON’T want: You will find what you focus on. Just like when you get a new car, suddenly you see it everywhere. It is because you are looking for it! Focus on the things you do want and you will find a way to get there!

9.    Start your morning off with gratitude: An attitude of gratitude can be a gamechanger for each and every morning. Wake up and start your day by listing the first 5 or 10 things you are grateful for. Watch how it changes your perspective!

10.  Create value for everyone you come in contact with: Be a person of value and worth! Be a giver of energy and life!

11.  Read a book a month: Say what!? I know getting you to read this far has been tough, but a book a month!? The challenge is more to start reading if you don’t already. It stimulates your brain in an amazingly different way than staring blankly at a television screen.

12.  Turn the news off: Energy Vampire… enough said! You already know it is going to depress you, so don’t turn it on! Fill you mind with positivity!

13.  Level up who you hang around: Who are you hanging around and are they helping you to become the person you are designed to be? Rocky said it best to little Marie,  “You hang out with Yo-Yo’s you get Yo-Yo friends”.  Level up your network and watch how your life dramatically improves.

14.  Train your body for it to last: Get to moving! Each and every one of us can do better. Wherever you are at now, find a way to take your body to the next level!

15.  Clean up your eating: What are your go to distractions when it comes to eating right? Now I am not saying you need to give them up… I am just saying that we have an opportunity to clean it up a little. What we put into our body is going to have a big effect on how we think, move and perform!

16.  Give more: We are designed to give. That is why we get so excited when we get a gift to give to someone, we can hardly contain ourselves! The best part is that giving is the gift that keeps on giving! We can hold onto and treasure those feelings forever. Now, it doesn’t have to be just financial that we give. It may be time, effort, a listening ear, or help with a project. How can you give a little extra this next decade?

17.  Listen more: I was always told I have two ears and one mouth, so I should be listening twice as much as I talk. How can you truly LISTEN and HEAR more, without just going through the motions.

18.  Say no to more things that take you off your path: Now this is a hard one for me because I want to make everyone happy! There are times though that we must say no. It is just like traveling on vacation. You can’t stop at every rest stop or go to every attraction on the way or you will never get to your destination. Keep those blinders on and get to your destination.

19.  Envision who you want to be at the end of the decade, and then live into it: This is one of the most powerful actins you can take. We don’t have to be the person we will be… but we can begin acting like it. Do you want to be more disciplined, thankful, hard working, fitter, smarter, etc? It won’t happen over night, but you can begin acting as if you were already that person. What would that version of you do? Start doing those things now!

20.  Cherish The Challenge: C’mon, you knew it was coming! If you can change the way you look at challenges over the next decade, you will undoubtedly be happier and live a more fulfilled life. We know challenges are going to come  over the next decade. Let’s choose to grow from them, and become the best version of ourselves that we are designed to be!