Four Intentions for Making This Year – Your Best Year

We want each year to be better than the last, but some of you may feel you don’t have enough control over your outcomes. You may also feel that each year gets busier than the last; making it even harder to be mindful about your choices. Part of our Accountability Method™ asks you to focus your time and energy on things you can control, a concept Dr. Covey introduced some time ago. We ask our coaching clients to focus on four general areas: Head, Heart, Money, and Space. Then, you take a few small steps to make next year better than this one.

Number One: Head

What will you learn in the coming year? Will it be a new behavior, or a work-related field of knowledge such as rising to the next level in your financial acumen? Maybe it will be reaching an expert level on a software platform you rely on. Whether it’s financial learning or dancing Flamenco, learning something new trains your mind to be open to new possibilities in other areas of your life. People may begin to experience you as being more flexible.

Number Two: Heart

Which relationships will you invest your time and energy in at work and home? Don’t pick 3. Choose two: one at work and one at home. To whom will you bring deeper attention? How will you demonstrate this attention? Will it be through acts of kindness or more intense listening? Will it be forgiving someone? What will you do so this other person will notice and appreciate your new investment in the relationship?

Number Three: Space

What clutter will you reduce? A clear space encourages a clear mind. Most people vow to ‘clean out my desk’ or ‘purge my storage room’ or some other BIG project. We encourage busy people to start small and realistically. Consider purging just one drawer in your desk, or one shelf in your closet. Consider making one small purge each week. For those of you who are already mindful about physical space, consider what negative thought patterns you could purge next year.

Number Four: Money

What will you do to secure your finances? Review your annual products and services subscriptions and cancel any that you no longer need (or use). Use budgeting software to track your personal expenses. You might be surprised by how much you spend eating out, or by indulging in retail therapy when feeling down. What are you income goals? What is your next step to getting a promotion and raise? What are your expense goals? We recommend having a personal cash flow plan, in the same way a business does.

Finally, although some things will remain totally out of your control or influence, if you focus your energy on incremental, achievable steps, you will find yourself more self-actualized, and that means each year you’ll get closer to living the life you want to live.

Our Dynamic Results team wishes that this coming year will be your best year.

Please continue reading for additional resources to help you in creating your best year.

Head: Watch TED talks to see what types of innovation are happening in the world.

http://www.ted.com/

Heart: Learn to create what we call ‘Emotional Safety^®‘ in your relationships.

http://dynamicresults.com/step-moments-matter-director-emotional-safety/

Space: Reduce clutter in your life and ‘free your mind’.

http://idreamofclean.net/10-foolproof-ways-to-reduce-clutter/

Money: Take small steps to improve your financial strength.

http://www.businessinsider.com/24-ways-to-improve-your-finances-this-year-2016-1