Author: Grant

If you want to make this year truly different, I’d like to challenge you to focus on one thing and one thing only, self-awareness. Self-awareness provides the foundation or the fundamentals required for optimum performance in our personal and business lives. In essence, self-awareness serves up the most important component required for you to live your definition of success… DISCIPLINE.  Here are three things to be acutely aware of each and every day:

1.       Your thoughts (who do you hang with, watch and read?)

2.       Your habits (are you developing new positive ones?)

3.       Your behaviours (impulses or conscious decisions?)

Thoughts, it has been proven a million times, the company you keep has a direct impact on the life you live. Therefore it stands to reason the stuff you enter into the most powerful computer on the planet (your brain) will also have an incredible impact on how we conduct ourselves. More importantly, the material we ingest has a direct impact on our self-esteem and self-worth. This isn’t a theory, it’s a fact, the question is what are you going to change in order to change your life?

Habits, a fundamental mistake people make is to try to get rid of a bad habit by eliminating said bad habit. A more effective approach is to crowd the bad habit out by developing good habits that ultimately replace the bad habits. With that comes self-empowerment and momentum….nothing like momentum in the right direction!

Behaviours, most of us run on automatic pilot, subconsciously plodding along often without much thought at all. The subconscious often drives us home and when we get in the driveway we wonder how we did that without being fully present and without getting in an accident. Self-awareness requires conscious, intentional decisions that are in line with our true desires. Animal instincts and impulses will more often than not take us down a dark, dead-end road. Ten or fifteen minutes of mediation every morning will force you to focus on intention and will go a long way to rewiring your brain towards the life you really want.

This article is intentionally brief, bite-sized. The last thought I’ll leave you with as you look into the window of 2022 is this, most people overcomplicate everything. I’ve known people that have read 50 books on self-improvement and when I ask what they’ve changed in their lives I get a blank stare. Constant new information does absolutely nothing but crowds the library of your brain. Ingesting information incessantly is like over-eating, it’s frankly bad for you and instead of a stomach ache, gives you a massive headache. Digesting information however is entirely different. It becomes part of your DNA as you discover gold nuggets that you immediately implement to enhance your journey. This digested knowledge is immediately understood and put to good use to help you make the changes you truly desire. Less information and more execution might be a good mantra for you to adopt as you celebrate the birth of a New Year. Make this one different, no excuses.

With deep respect and gratitude, hj

one

Have a brutally honest conversation with yourself. Are you really happy? What hurdles, situations or circumstances are stealing your joy? Are you confronting them head-on or hoping they go away? The relationships with those in your inner circle will be an anchor or fuel in the year ahead. Be intentional about maintaining and improving them. Have frank conversations with those closest to you and ask how they are feeling or how they perceive the health and authenticity of your relationship. This exercise is cathartic and liberating. It also gives you some clarity on what you need to improve to move to the next level.

two

Have your antenna up for something that is incredibly meaningful to you. A cause that has nothing to do with money but in some way makes your neighbourhood or community a better place. When you donate your unique talents to this need it gives you a feeling that you’ve made a contribution in some way that lives on long after you’re gone. A legacy of some sort if you will. There comes a point in everyone’s life where they recognize a life without meaning is empty, emotionally bankrupt. Being aware of this basic human need and filling it sooner than later creates the emotional balance for optimum performance.

Three

Book a course, a workshop or lessons that will challenge you intellectually and force you to learn something new. Sign up for a physical challenge, triathlon, marathon, 5k run, 2k mile swim, 50k hike or marshal art that scares you! Hire a coach and/or take lessons. Don’t think, just do and tell those close to you what you are up to. This exercise is ultra fuel for making you the best version of yourself in every area of your life.

four

Take a good hard and honest look at your net worth. Your total assets minus your total liabilities. Write it down as of January 1, 2022. What would you like it to be on January 1, 2023? Find someone that has done financially what you’d like to do. If it’s investing in real estate find a mentor. If it’s stocks find a successful advisor and hire them to guide you. If it’s retiring early find someone that’s done it, gather as much information as you can. Anything you want to do chances are someone else has already done it. Put your ego on the shelf and find them. Thankfully most truly successful people love helping others, it is simply a matter of asking and then executing on the guidance they give you. Don’t expect it to be easy or filled with guarantees, that’s the safe road, the safe road has a much lower rate of return. (Think rocking chair instead of a roller coaster).

Finally, desire without discipline leads to depression. If you don’t have a burning desire to grow you simply won’t conjure up enough discipline to stay at it for the long haul. You’ve got to be emotionally attached to the outcome you are after. That energy has to come from a deep desire to change, for all the right reasons, for you!

Happy New Year, hj