Why the month of March is pivotal to your achievements of 2019
We are almost at the end of the month of March in the year 2019. A year that started with many promises, hopes, dreams, and resolutions. I remember sharing the thought that: “We shouldn’t plan the CALENDAR, we should plan LIFE. 2019 is a toolkit of 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days and the corresponding hours….”
Well, not to build in pressure, but the toolkit now has fewer components, a reality that brings us to the significance of the month of March.
Planning in January is usually very idealistic and emotional. Every day that passes, you keep hoping for a magic wand that will make the plan come to life. February rolls in and you start feeling despondent about your plans and the new journal starts gathering dust because the mundane, demanding things of life came to mock you that they are still more alive than your resolutions. Mortgage payment reminders mock your seed capital, inflation and season changes mock your healthy eating regiment by giving you cheaper unhealthy options, school, and work schedules mock your family time resolve and soon, you see yourself as having no choice but to give up your dreams for 2019.
When I think about the month of March, I can’t help but replay what Darren Hardy keeps saying about commitment to a goal: Commitment is doing the thing you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you. How committed are we to the goals and plans we set in January? Were we setting them because we would do them or because it felt like a nice thing to do with the spare time that the holidays had given us?
If there was a commitment, here are 5 actions to get you back in step to achieving your goals and plans for the year.
Revisit the plan in the context of the reality of the past 10-12 weeks
1. If you planned it then you documented it at least with the end in sight. Let’s take for example you had decided it was time to start eating healthy and lose a couple of pounds. What target did you have? What was the plan to achieve it? Maybe alter your grocery shopping list or was it walk a mile every day or was it junk food once a week? Whatever the plan was, retrieve it and give it a long hard look and determine if it is still viable and realistic. What needs to be adjusted in the plan without adjusting the visualized end result?
2. Equip yourself for the long haul
There is a version of you that got you to this point of your life, there is another version of you that will achieve what you have planned. I’ll quote two great men:-
Albert Einstein who once said, “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
Jim Rohn who said “Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become”.
If you are working at reduced weight then you need to identify what kind of a person achieves such a goal and become that person. It takes a decisive person to say no to junk food in the middle of a stressful day. Disciplined, efficient in time management is what you might need to be if you are working at being a more reliable and trusted person. Don’t just desire and pursue the result. If you are going to be successful in your plans and goals for 2019, work at who you are because you will be creating and operating at a higher level than the challenge you are trying to overcome.
3. Sift the mundane into 4 categories based on the importance of work and returns
Because becoming is a process, we have to eliminate and reduce what is not working in our favor while increasing the behaviors and actions that are.
Having reviewed your plan and deciding who you are going to be, you can easily tell what is viable for the rest of the months. If you have a hectic day every day to the extent that your only meals are fast foods, the mockery of the cheese and mustard sauce is that you cannot hack it, so what is the point of trying? Keep trying, you can eat better. You decided that you are going to be conscious of all your decisions and you will be decisive. Once you remember that this is the new you, All you need to do is order a to-go meal that is healthier!
If your health is your priority this year then the level of importance of actions related to this goal is high. They cannot be delegated, ignored or taken lightly. Take this simple exercise for the goals you have set. (Under it is our healthy eating example, applied in the exercise)
4. Blend your plan to your reality
Once you know what will keep you in the star zone of goal and plan achievement, the next thing is to include those actions in your daily routines.
Identify your NETs (No extra times): i.e. times when you are occupied by activity but you can do something related to your goals at that time, as well. For example, if you ride the bus or subway or train to work every morning for an hour, that is one of your NETs. You can take that time to listen to a podcast, an audiobook or read a motivation/self-help book.
Make an addition to your rhythm: If you are always tied to your desk with intermittent breaks, include a glass of water in those breaks. Your break should thus be a walk to the water dispenser and back. If you are a calendar/ daily schedule person, then write it down as a to do with the exact time that it should be done.
Guard the resources of your star zone jealously: These include your time and peace of mind. Nothing is more destructive than a disturbed mind because you will make poor decisions, procrastinate and renege on your own promises.
5. Motivate yourself by celebrating the small wins
I LOVE RINGS! My first ring ever was purchased by my boyfriend and husband while he was on assignment in Somalia. He got it from the famous Bakaara market. Pure gold and from the moment he put on my finger, I knew, my fingers make a lovely home for rings. Give me a leather watch and rings and my hands are fully accessorized for whatever occasion. But that’s me and that is how I celebrate my milestone achievements.
What is your style?
You need to celebrate you because there is no one else who is leading your cheer-leading squad. When you land a big deal, it’s not your friends who will call a party, they will follow your cue of whether or not to celebrate. You can read my other article on why to celebrate yourself on my blog, but here is my number one reason: It gives me the fuel for my next fete. I am a firm believer in leaving the past success behind because I don’t want to be blinded in my efforts, but the rings and watches I wear as I type on my keyboard or make a presentation or take notes in a client meeting serve as a reminder that I have delivered value before and I can do it again!
When achieved, your plans and goals for 2019 will only be an indicator of the person who you work to become which I believe is better than you were on January 1st or March or August!
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE
I love writing about issues that are important to me or what I’m passionate about. In the process, I sometimes take the time to make recommendations for products, services and information sources that I have found useful in my professional and personal life. Some of my content will thus contain affiliate links through which I may earn some revenue if you click through to the sites or make purchases.
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