Are you feeling prepared for the year ahead? Or do you feel a sense of overwhelm because you haven’t had time or inclination to spend time planning? It’s really easy to get caught up in the rhythm of daily and seasonal life. Before you know it, another year has passed and you’re left asking yourself: What have I accomplished in that time? What difference have I made? Am I happier and healthier than I was a year ago today? Is my business where I want it to be? In my last post, I talked about the idea of changing something and not trying to do it all. But where do you start and how do you start? Change can be overwhelming. I wanted to break the patterns and habits in my life that weren’t serving me (or anyone else), so I started making a month-long list of things I could do each day to make small, incremental changes. If you could do just one thing every day to create a happier, healthier life, imagine the ripple effect that could have on your year, your family, your business, your community and the world. To help you kickstart incremental change in your life and business, here is a week’s worth from my list of 31 daily challenges. If you manage to do one thing each day from the list below, you’ll be well on your way to creating a better life and business in 2016.
Day 1: Make Time
Author and blogger Kelly Exeter suggests taking an inventory of everything you do in your week in her book: Your Best Year Ever: 7 simple ways to shift your thinking and take charge of your life. Where are you wasting time? How long do you spend each day scrolling the Facebook newsfeed or catching up on emails? Small tasks can waste a lot of your time. What does your inventory look like today?
Day 2: Create Space
If, like me, you are more prone to creating mountains of unfolded laundry, you may be feeling your home is just a reflection of your confused and disorganised inner-world. But now is not the time to be hard on yourself. The simple solution to dealing with the depressing mound of clothes is to tackle it, one item at a time. What’s one task you can take on today that will help you create space?
Day 3: Make a Difference
You can make a difference in many many ways. Support someone on Kickstarter, sponsor a child who has been pulled from the sex trade, buy a tree, leave a tip when you don’t have to, walk instead of drive, clean out your pantry and donate the stuff you don’t want to a local food charity, support a local arts event or performance by buying a ticket, buy goods from a social enterprise, … the list is truly endless.
Day 4: Choose Happiness
You don’t need more of anything to make you happy. You don’t need a better job or a better house. You just need to start with what you have before you, find joy in all the small, delicious moments that make up your day and revel in life’s little idiosyncrasies. Write down all the things you were grateful for today. If your list is short, then it will probably be longer tomorrow. Don’t be hard on yourself. You deserve to be happy, so start creating happy moments and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your spirit will fly.
Day 5: Be Kind to Yourself
Do you view yourself the way your friends do? A friend recently said to me: “When I look at you, here’s what I see. I see a beautiful, strong, amazing woman who cares deeply about her kids and gives so much to others. I see a brave, kind and loving soul who is so talented, and I want to be more like you.” I was stunned. I had thought that everyone else thought I was a bit of an idiot. At that moment, the thought occurred to me that there’s no way I’d ever say these things to myself. I was too busy being hard on myself. Yet, I think good things about my friends. Be your own friend. Say nice things to yourself and tell yourself how amazing you are.
Day 6: Create a Safe Space
Fear has no place in your home or work-life. If you are fearful, then this needs to be explored. What’s your intuition telling you? Whatever your point of fear, it’s important to check in with yourself and ask yourself honestly if you feel safe. If you don’t, and you don’t think you can create a safe space with what you have before you, then it may be time to seek help and support.
Day 7: Create Beauty
A small but significant thing you can do today is tell someone else they are beautiful. Tell others they are handsome, gorgeous, beautiful on a daily basis and eventually they will believe you. Tell them they look awkward, ugly, unkempt, filthy, disgusting or could use a little make up and they will immediately believe you.
What This Has to Do with Your Business Success
You may be wondering what each of these have to do with your business. The thing is, if you feel like you are making shifts in your day-today life, that can have a positive impact on your mindset and business success. What other incremental changes can you make each day? What would be on your list? Here’s to your success and happiness in 2016!