Well, the new year is here and you’re probably feeling refreshed and energized. That’s because you have just had some time off, maybe doing what you love with people you enjoy being with.
Unfortunately, this state is doomed to be temporary. Your obligations are whirring into gear again and the available time to pursue your hobbies and desires is reducing again.
How do you prevent the seemingly inevitable slide towards that “I need a holiday” feeling?
Here are 10 things that will help keep you upbeat, motivated and balanced for the year ahead:
1. Learn the lessons from the year before
There is no better time than right now to learn from last year. Were you someone that worked too many evenings and regretfully looked back and wondered why you didn’t spend as much time with your partner or family? Maybe you consistently put yourself under pressure? Or perhaps you’ve allowed yourself to be a doormat one too many times.
The holiday period can lead us to forget these things and repeat the mistakes, so write down what you’ve learned, how you want it to be different, and put it somewhere regularly visible: a desk drawer, a coloured piece of paper in your wallet or even the background on your smartphone.
2. Goals for the year
We all know that goal-setting is helpful on a number of fronts: it provides motivation, it gives an objective measure of progress and it keeps your efforts focused. Yet so many of us fail to set goals. Think about it this way: what is the one thing you could achieve this year that would make you look back and smile with pride?
3. Short-term goals for January
One of the reasons most New Year resolutions fail is because they’re unrealistic. Challenge yourself to grow, but don’t try and turn from a seed into an oak tree without considering the steps in between. Short-term goals, particularly ones with a four week time frame, are really motivating because they sit just outside your vision. Doing a four-week exercise challenge is tough, but achievable. Signing up for a 52-week challenge is much more daunting and likely to fail. Breaking down your larger goals into smaller, monthly targets is an excellent practice that many successful people employ.
4. Removing the noise
We always seem to think it’s the big things in life that cause us the most stress. This is only partly true. The big issues are the ones that take the most effort to overcome, but often the stress and anxiety is produced because of the smaller obligations that mount up and prevent us from dealing with the real challenges in life.
It sounds silly, but setting aside 30 minutes a week to make sure your filing is done, your desk is clear, your important files are backed up and your bills are paid will free up a lot of cognitive resources to take on the more challenging and unpredictable areas of life.
5. Changing a bad habit
Everyone has bad habits. Some people are rude to subordinate team members, others skim through emails instead of reading them properly, or many are late for appointments. Others have poor eating or exercise habits. There is always a little habit that finds a way to get us in trouble regularly. This is the habit to become mindful of, to re-engineer your own behaviour and to save you a lot of headaches in 2014.
6. Help someone in need
January is a time of motivation and energy as we think about all the great things we are going to do in the coming year, but how often do we turn our thoughts to helping someone else? When you help other people you give your empathy muscles a good workout as you start to appreciate what it is like to be worse off. It can be sobering, and challenging, but I am yet to meet anyone who has helped the needy and regretted it. Invariably it provides a feeling of satisfaction.
7. Thank someone who has been really helpful
Who helped you the most in 2013? Who was it that stopped you from making a big mistake, or took time out to help you through a rough patch? Have you thanked them? Do they know how much you appreciate it? It only takes a few minutes, in fact, you could do it right now…
8. Plan a holiday
Yes, I know you just had time off, but didn’t it feel great? Locking in a holiday at this time of the year not only gives you the benefit of cheaper air fares, but it also gives you a shining beacon of positivity on the horizon. Typically, people plan holidays when the work piles up and they just want to get out of the situation they’re in. By planning it earlier you will probably deal with those tough times a lot better.
9. Tackle a back log task left over from 2013
Those leftover tasks from the previous year have a way of haunting us in the background as we try to get on with the year ahead. It stops us moving forward with the full gamut of enthusiasm the new year deserves. If you gulped while reading this then you should know exactly what needs to be done…
10. Review health and fitness plan
Busy people always find it difficult to fit in exercise and healthy eating. In fact, high level managerial positions seem to actively discourage it with prolonged hours in a seated position, lots of travel and no time to cook and prepare healthy meals. This is the start of the slippery slope.
Unhealthy work habits will eventually start to show up in your work. Have you ever noticed how the person that rides their bike to work seems to have a smile on their face all day? Or the person who doesn’t drink coffee doesn’t seem quite as stressed as everyone else? It is the daily habits that build over time to create our overall wellbeing, and it deserves your attention.
Thankfully, healthy eating and activity have flow-on effects in almost every area of life, so the time it ‘costs’ is soon repaid to you in productivity, creativity happiness and reduced stress.
Eve Ash has a wide range of resources and books that can help people change their thinking and habits in a constructive way.
Eve Ash is a psychologist, author, filmmaker, public speaker and entrepreneur. She runs Seven Dimensions, a company specialising in training resources for the workplace.
