Self Improvement

You’re 6 Steps Away From Experiencing Absolutely The Best Year Ever

How to transform your life starting this year

At the beginning of each year, millions of people hope to have the best year of their life. And at the end of the year, millions of people are disappointed.

So what happened to derail people’s hopes for a fantastic new year? Was it a lack of trying? Was it discouragement? Did life events hijack goals? Did living day-to-day swiftly consume the year until suddenly it was December?

With the end of the year approaching you might be thinking about your new year’s resolutions. What questions are you asking yourself? “How can I transform myself into something better?” “What do I want to change in my life?” “What can I do to have an incredible year?” Or maybe you’re asking, “What did I do wrong that kept me from achieving my last year’s resolutions?”

Have a vision for the new year

Before you can achieve anything, you must have a vision. You must clearly envision what you want to be, what you want to change, and what your year will look like. And your vision must be reasonable and within your reach to accomplish.

Two traps to avoid failure

There are two traps to watch out for when making your new year’s resolution: 1. Overestimating what you can accomplish in a single year, and 2. underestimating what you can accomplish in 5, 10, 20, or 50 years. So set reasonable, achievable goals for this year and expect extraordinary results in the years and decades ahead.

“If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.” Emil Zatopek

The 6-step plan to an absolutely great year

To transform your life this year and in future years you must have a vision and a set of tools to enable what you imagine to come to life. The tools are not complicated or difficult to use. The rest of this article will give you the mechanisms you need to transform your life so every year is better than the last.

Step 1 — Get physically fit

Being physically fit is the foundation for the next step — mental strength.

People who are physically fit, who run marathons, lift heavy weights, practice martial arts, and other demanding sports have one trait in common. They have trained their bodies to respond upon command.

“Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave…” — I Corinthians 9:26–27

Getting physically fit is different for every person. You don’t have to run a 20-mile marathon or lift incredible amounts of weight. But you do have to do something physical.

If you haven’t exercised in a while start with going on a walk. After a few weeks, add some weights to your walking routine. If you have a bike, go for a ride then gradually add miles to your riding.

Physical conditioning isn’t fun. If you are doing it right, you will have some struggle. It takes a little more effort to ride an extra half mile or to life another 5 pounds.

When a person is depressed they demonstrate their state of mind in their physical state. Shoulders slump, head droops, speech slows, and is soft. By getting fit, your body responds by making you stand taller, lift your head, and your speech becomes more confident.

Becoming physically fit helps reduce depression and it energizes you so your thoughts become clearer, you have a stronger focus, and your confidence gets a boost.

Step 2 — Get Mentally Strong

Hoping things will be different doesn’t work.

When I was in high school I wanted to go to college. But my parents couldn’t afford to help me. I was 17 years old and working part-time at a service station making minimum wage. And my dad told me that when I graduated from high school I had to leave home. Thinking about my future was depressing.

The best that happened to me was being told that in a few months, I would have to support myself. It forced me to stop hoping and start planning. So I devised a plan. I would graduate and go into the Air Force. Then I would use the G.I. Bill to go to college.

Getting mentally strong means you no longer hope that things will be different. You have to develop the mindset that things will change. You have to train yourself to believe.

Here are some suggestions for retraining your thinking. Read books about people who have overcome adversity. Repeat positive affirmations over and over until they become part of your thinking. Write positive notes on your bathroom mirror. Use sticky notes and put them on your refrigerator door. Avoid people who are negative and find people who are encouragers.

Feed and guard your mind every day.

Step 3 — Find a mentor

A mentor can change your life. But choose your mentor wisely.

After a few years in the Air Force, I was reassigned. In my new job, I reported directly to a Lieutenant Colonel as his personal assistant. He was educated, smart, and determined. And he had multiple degrees and was working on another one when I was assigned to him. Although I was a Sargeant and he was a high-ranking officer, I decided he was the one to mentor me.

Over the next couple of years, he talked to me about going to college, and how to study. He encouraged me to pursue my dreams. We didn’t hang out together because we were in two different worlds, but I watched how he managed himself, how he talked, and how he interacted with people. And without him knowing he was doing it, he mentored me. And what he taught me has lasted a lifetime.

When choosing your mentor find someone you admire and who has accomplished great things. Mentors are all around us. It isn’t important that you know them personally as long as you can learn enough about them that their life will guide you.

Step 4 — Help others

If all you do is focus on yourself, you’ll miss a great opportunity to improve your life by helping others.

It’s a silly analogy but our lives are like sponges. We have a great capacity to take things in, but if all we do is absorb what we learn, we will eventually be too full to accept anything more. Once in a while, it’s good to be wrung out. When that happens, we are open to absorb more.

By helping others we get “wrung out”.

When we help other people, we get a fresh perspective on our own situation. After helping someone else, you’ll find that your problems aren’t nearly as bad as you thought. And knowing someone’s life is a little better because you reach out will make you feel good about yourself.

Step 5 — Take massive action

In this step, you take giant steps towards your goals. This is where you move from making a plan to executing it. You’ve dreamed, thought about, and planned to start a business. Your spouse is on board. Money is available. A location has been found. All of the parts and pieces are ready for assembly.

All that is left is massive action.

It’s not as hard as it sounds, but mentally, it’s challenging. Prior to now, you’ve imagined starting a business, thought about getting a location, dreamed about remodeling it, stocking it, and getting customers. In this step, you change gears from dreaming and planning. Now you will make your vision a reality. Real money will be spent, contracts entered into, and there is a risk of failure.

Before taking massive action, you must have a solid strategy by planning ahead. A flawed plan can’t be fixed by positive thinking or affirmations. So once you’ve made the step from dreaming to doing, you have to be flexible. And as much as you’ve planned, accept that there will be things that will go wrong.

It’s all part of taking massive action.

Step 6 — Visualize Success

After you’ve done everything to make this next year your absolutely best ever, you have one more step.

You have to visualize your future how you want it.

“Visualize what you want to do before you do it. Visualization is so powerful that when you know what you want, you will get it.” Audrey Flack

I’m repeating this because it’s so important to understand visualization is the key to success.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney

Mastering fear

There is nothing more debilitating than fear. It can paralyze you into inaction. And it can prevent you from maximizing your potential and derail your plans for a better life.

No one is exempt from feeling fear. Self-preservation is part of the human condition. Our brains are hardwired to protect us from the danger that is real or perceived.

If you want to experience the best year of your life, you will have to learn to manage your fear.

“Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.” — Japanese Proverb

When you attempt something great you will experience fear. To combat it you must have courage. Even though you are afraid you can teach yourself to move ahead and do it anyway. Pushing through your fear isn’t an option. If you are ever to achieve your goals, you must overcome your fear.

Accept the unpredictable

To have the best year of your life, you will have to accept unpredictability.

When reaching beyond the plateau that has been your life, you’ll be entering unknown territory. You won’t know what to expect so there will be surprises and unexpected events.

When I was younger I was an amateur rock climber. At the time, I enjoyed the challenge without thinking too much about why I climbed. Looking back, climbing required overcoming the natural fear of falling. And it also required controlled breathing and thinking on the fly. Looking up a rock wall from the ground looked simple, but when climbing the face everything was different. What looked so predictable became unpredictable.

People struggle with uncertainty. It makes them uncomfortable, worried, and afraid. Just like fear puts a stranglehold on our minds so does uncertainty.

When you experience the best year in your life, you will have to overcome your anxiety and learn to embrace the unpredictable.

5 Question to ask when changing yourself

People who make it a life objective to have each year better than the last are constantly changing. Think of it as perpetual dissatisfaction. They change how they approach problems and how they plan for the future. They stretch themselves by allowing for the unpredictable.

If you want to change yourself so that you can experience the best year in your life, ask yourself these questions.

What drives me?

For some, this is a difficult question. But you have to get the answer, and it will be unique to you.

Are you motivated by making money? Does helping animals excite you? What keeps you up at night? Do you want to write the next best seller? Or do you want to work with people who have physical disabilities? Do you want to change your career and become a social worker?

If you don’t know already, discover what drives you.

What is my passion?

Once you know what drives you, dig deeper. Why do you want to make money? Just making money isn’t rewarding. Could it be you want to help people financially? Do you want to be a silent benefactor to others? Do you want to employ people?

Knowing what is really driving you will motivate you to push yourself to have the best year of your life.

What resources do I have available?

Resources aren’t just money. What do you already own or can borrow that will get you started? Who do you know that can help you? Is there someone that can be your mentor? If you don’t have the knowledge you need, can you buy a course, or get some books, or learn on the web?

How will I accomplish my goal?

You’ve already figured out your why and what you are passionate about, but you have to next figure out your how.

The how won’t just drop into your lap. You have to create the environment for it. If you want to be a social worker, you’ll begin asking questions or you’ll talk to people who can help you. If you want to write a best selling book, you’ll get involved with writer’s groups and attend meetings with published authors. At some point, you’ll find the answer.

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear” — Origin Unknown

There’s no way for me to know what you want in life. But I can take a guess that at the core you want a better quality of life for you and your family. What that looks like is different for everyone.

“There is only one person responsible for the quality of life you live and that person is you.” — Jack Canfield