Seeing 2020
Stop Apologizing for Being Your Awesome Self
Must-reads for focus and productivity
A new year, a new decade, a new you. Just because the calendar changes doesn’t mean anything about you has changed. You’re still the same person you were yesterday, but you can change your priorities.
Karate-chop what isn’t important out of your life.
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”― Bruce Lee
Make decisions about:
- what goals you pursue
- how you spend your time
- taking care of yourself
- how you use your “yes” and your “no”
- keep learning
What is important?
And, maybe more importantly: What is not important?
Answer those two questions and you have already set the course for what you need to focus on.
Change what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t control.
Goals
Decide what goals matter most to you. You can’t focus on too many at one time unless you want to set yourself up for failure. Brainstorm your goals for the year then focus on the top three. Pick which one you want to focus on first. Go after it with abandon.
Your other goals are not to be discounted. Keep them on file for when you’ve completed what’s most important. When you focus on all of your goals at the same time you'll end up doing busy work without successfully completing any one of them. Make a note on your calendar to revisit your goals often. If you’ve accomplished the first goal then you’re ready to turn your attention to another one.
Compartmentalize your lifestyle goals. While you can’t have two active career goals at one time, you can have a career goal, a goal to lose weight, and a goal to spend more family time together. The critical element is to make sure your goals don’t conflict with one another.
Re-evaluate goals quarterly to keep your goals and priorities in check and eliminate conflicts.
Choose how you use your time
One calendar year has 365.2425 days, 525,600 minutes, and 31,556,952 seconds.
How will you use this time wisely?
Hustle all the time and you’ll have a recipe to wear yourself out mentally and physically. It’s okay to hustle in the short-term, to meet a goal, but a constant hustle will leave you burnt out.
Take care of your body too. Diet and exercise are necessary components of your physical well-being. Work self-care into your routine and it will improve your outlook on life. Life is better when you can live it fully. Take naps and schedule downtime to give yourself time to rest.
Commit carefully
Be careful with how you use your “yes” and how you use your “no.” This is the best advice I can offer. Don’t overbook yourself. Saying yes is easy and it is easy to get overcommitted. Say “no” to things that don’t align with your goals and priorities.
If a commitment doesn’t fit your goals, say no to it.
One thing I’ve said no to several years ago is notifications. I have notifications turned off everywhere. I also don’t check voicemail ever. Actionable items get prioritized and batch processed and when I’m not looking, I’m not receiving notifications anywhere.
Try turning off notifications. You might like it. Your productivity will soar.
Keep learning
Take time to improve yourself. If you aren’t learning something, you’re likely not improving your craft. Making time to learn isn’t a luxury. It’s essential to your growth.
Take time to help yourself by continuing to learn.
For me, this often means reading. I find that taking the time to read self-improvement books grows me personally too.
A few of my favorite books are:
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
This book revolutionized my morning. It will help you focus your morning by focusing on yourself first. When you set your intentions for the day you will accomplish more than you ever thought possible.
Get more done before 8 am than most people accomplish all day.
Calm the F*ck Down by Sarah Knight
If you struggle with anxiety, like I do, Knight will help you prioritize your frequent flyer give a f*cks.
Knight uses humor and profanity to induce calmness while giving practical coping mechanisms to solve everyday problems.
By the time you calm down and Get Your Sh*t Together, (Another book by Knight, but I haven’t this one read yet), you can stop apologizing.
Girl Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis
Hollis uses beautifully blunt language to help you let others’ judgment roll-off.
She shakes off the stereotypes many women place on themselves. If you’re like most women I know, you’ve been taught to define yourself in the light of other people. Get ready to step into the light of who you are. See a whole new you.
A you who doesn’t apologize for who you are. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.
If you aren’t learning and improving you’re growing stale. Re-evaluate what is important.
Re-evaluate
Re-evaluate the habits and patterns you followed last year. See what habits need to be replaced and which ones you want to keep. Keep habits that work well for you and eliminate ones that keep you from being your most productive self.
You’ll be glad you did.
Stop apologizing for being your awesome self.