A new year is a time for reflection, for looking back on the year just ending and making resolutions for the upcoming year.
On Jan. 1 our ambitions are high, our goals lofty and our intentions great. However, once we are back to work and the daily grind sets in, it doesn’t take long to slip back into the same old patterns — then we proclaim, “Resolutions just don’t work.” Turn the tables and increase your chances of success by deliberately setting up a game that challenges you, yet you know you can win. Happy, fulfilled people live their lives intentionally. They actively create their own future. Read on to discover 4 steps to create your game worth playing.
Observe yourself
Step outside yourself and look at the life you are living. Is it a life that brings you joy, fulfillment and meaning? Without a game worth playing, it is easy to succumb to distractions and addictions, or to become a pawn in someone else’s game. If you don’t like where you are, what needs to change?
Don’t feel like you have to have all of the answers right now. Start observing and asking yourself these questions:
- Am I happy in my life right now?
- Is there something I feel I should be doing that I’m not doing?
- Are my daily actions congruent with what I value?
- What actions would improve my life?
Write down any thoughts you have in response to these questions. Observe, and then ask the questions again the next day until your path becomes clear and you recognize the goals you are meant to set — the goals that resonate from the top of your head to the souls of your feet. Then you know you have discovered the game you want to play.
Determine where you want to be
Next, you need to determine what winning the game looks like. What is your ideal? Is there a discrepancy between where you are and where you want to be? This gap is your opportunity for growth.
Get a clear picture in your head of what success looks like for you as it relates to your goals.
Practice
Begin observing and studying people who are doing what you want to do, people who have relationships like you want to have, people that inspire you. Notice what they do on a daily basis. What successful routines have they incorporated? For example, people who are fit generally have regular times and places that they work out. Successful students typically have consistent study routines. What could you do regularly that would contribute to your success? Decide what you want to incorporate, schedule it and then practice.
Try different things until you find something that works for you, and then make a routine out of it. Continue to “practice” until it becomes a success habit.
Measure your performance
Determine various milestones along the path to measure your performance against. Without measurements of success and progress checks, how can you know if you are on track?
At least once a week have a meeting with yourself and check your progress in the game. Are you still moving forward toward your objective, or are you sliding backwards? What is working well? Where do you need to course correct? Make adjustments as necessary.
In the end, what price are you paying by living by default instead of living intentionally and designing your own game of life? You don’t want to wake up one day with regret for not having living the life you should have. Create the game you can’t wait to play, a game that challenges you, yet you know you can win. Set yourself up for success by observing yourself, determining what you want, practicing and measuring your performance until you cross the finish line with the satisfaction of a game well played.
Pamela Adams Henrie is the owner of The Success Choice and creator of “The Woman’s Success Planner” and “The Choosing Joy in the Journey Journal.” For more information, or to contact Pamela, log on to her website at TheSuccessChoice.com.
Originally published on The Daily Hearld’s MomClick December 29, 2015
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