5 Essential Strategies to Jump-start your Life in 2016

In 2015 I spent a lot of time sharing information, strategy and products with my community that revolved around the topics of productivity and business. I think that for so many of us, there is a real desire to make things happen for our lives and lately I have seen so many people step up and acknowledge that one way they see themselves taking control of their lives is by taking control of their careers by creating their own jobs. My motto for my life in the last few years has been “Your dream job does not exist, you must create it,” so I understand full well the power that running your own business can have in helping you create a life tailored to your needs. In the last year, however, I have also heard from many people within my community that know it’s not one of their goals to start their own business, but they still look to me as an example for how to pursue a meaningful life.

Whether you are a budding entrepreneur, a small business owner or not, most of us have a desire to feel like we are truly living a full life but many obstacles seem to stand in our way.  I’m not ashamed to confide that for years I felt like a helpless victim in my own life’s story, waiting for the day that I would be able to step into my life, the real life that I always dreamed I’d have. It has really only been in the last few years that I have finally felt like I have “made it” to that place I wanted to be. It took me a long time, years of sticking to the straight and narrow path before I could see the fruits of my labor, and even now, although I feel like I’m truly living a charmed life, I know that I still have more to overcome and will always have some resistance to face for as long as I am alive. After all, life in and of itself, is a struggle. It takes enormous amounts of energy everyday for us to live and when you pile the stressors of daily life on top, like work, finances and relationships, it just gets harder. The key to living well is not removing these stressors from our lives completely, we could really never do that without great hardship, but we must learn the strategies to accept them and manage them seamlessly. In the coming weeks, I am going to share a resource with you, something of my own design to help you learn to manage the ins and outs of daily life, but until then, I wanted to share with you some simple yet powerful strategies that you can implement immediately to help you jump-start your life in this new year. Are you ready to get started?

Strategy #1: Take a Personal Inventory

The first step to getting things moving for yourself is to take a personal inventory regularly.Where are you in life right now and where do you want to be? What have you accomplished that you are proud of and what areas of your life are opportunities for growth both personally and professionally? It’s very important to have a sense of accuracy as to where you are in life and to also have a sense of gratitude for your situation, no matter how much more you want or how much different you wish your life were.

Strategy #2: Set Yourself a Challenge

Many of us set resolutions or goals at the start of a new year, most of which is quickly discarded due to lack of planning and adequate preparation. I have a whole workbook about strategic goal setting if that is something you need, however goals won’t propel you forward in life unless they are challenging to you. I’ll admit that I am guilty of often times setting goals for myself that are almost like forgone conclusions. Things I know I can achieve within my comfort zone. As they say, life lies right outside your comfort zone, so without creating challenge in your life, you can never expect to grow and fulfill the greatest potential for your life.

Strategy #3: Find a Creative Outlet

Whether or not you are a creative person by nature, I think that self expression in one form or another is essential to understanding yourself and what you want in your life. For me, designing stickers, inserts and other printables for my planner is my favorite creative outlet, one that also helps me feel productive. Playing with stickers and stationery, for me, is a way that I express my style and unleash my creative side. It helps to reduce my stress and often, while I’m playing around with paper and pens, I find that business inspiration will randomly strike!

Strategy #4: Set a Reoccurring Date with Yourself

In her book, The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron advocates taking regular artist’s dates in order to unleash your most creative work, however, I think this concept is something that anyone, not just artists and creators, can benefit from. Again, not everyone has creative or artistic aspirations, but I do believe that by regularly spending a bit of uninterrupted time with ourselves in contemplation or meditation, we can find a sense of balance and calm that will naturally bring more inspiration and productivity to our lives.

Strategy #5:  Find an Accountability Partner

It may sound trite, but as we journey through life it’s important for us to find like minded individuals to share our experiences with that can also serve to mentor and inspire us. If you truly want to make any sort of lasting progress with your life, finding someone to help you remain accountable is going to be crucial. I think that it’s important that this person be someone new that you bring into your life and not someone you are already friends with or someone you are related to. Social media is a great place to find such a person by stepping outside of your comfort zone and finding a new friend in a mutual community or program you may both be a part of.

Next Steps

Although these strategies are relatively simple, they are by no means easy to achieve, so my recommendation to you is to begin on these one at a time for a period of 30 days each. Choose the strategy that to you seems the most urgent or speaks to you in some way and begin with that. Once you have successfully integrated the strategy into your life in that 30 day period, you can add in the next one that draws your interest. I would love to hear your experience as you execute on these concepts so please make sure to leave me a comment to let me know your plan of attack and keep me updated with tweets or Instagram updates through your process. Good luck and I can’t wait to see what you achieve in 2016!

xoxo,