How 2017 Can Be the Greatest Year of Your Life

The thrill of the Holidays are over. New Years resolutions have come and gone. The lure of the “new” is beginning to fade. You’re already failing in your new year commitments and 2017 isn’t turning out like you hoped. Is there anything you can do to change that really works? I have good news for you – the answer is an absolute, YES! This is how to make 2017 the greatest year of your life. 

I have failed at resolutions and goal-setting so many times it hurts. In fact, 92% of people who set goals do not achieve them. So don’t feel too bad.

But after years of studying human performance and personal change, I’ve finally found what works and it’s simple for you to implement.

3 Simple Things to Create Change in 2017

1. You Must Have a Compelling Vision.

Many people think that a dream or a goal is good enough to accomplish what they want. But if that’s all you do, you will likely fail like the 92%. It’s not strong enough to keep you focused.

To help you succeed like the top 8%, you must have a vision. A vision is a compelling picture of the future. It’s what you will do, who you will be and what must happen in your life. It’s not up for negotiation. For a deeper dive on how to create a vision statement, read this article on How to Discover Your Vision.

People fail because they aren’t clear enough with their personal vision. If you are vague regarding your vision, everything else in your life will seem vague. The clearer your vision is, the greater the opportunity to accomplish it.

If you don’t believe you have the ability to take responsibility and create the world you want to live in, the world will create you in its image. A vision helps you be the victor of change not the victim.

2. Systems not Goals

Goals are important, but alone, they fail 92% of the time.

A goal is, “I want to run a marathon.” The system is to run 1 mile 5x a week the first week, 2 miles 5x the second week, 4 miles 5x the third week etc. You build the system to achieve your goal. 

A goal is, “I want to write a book.” The goal is to write 500 words 6x a week at 6:30 am Monday through Saturday. In 4 months, your book is done.

I have systems I accomplish every day without fail that coincide with my goals. A few of them are: Stretching and running Monday through Friday, 25 pushups everyday, Writing 4X a week, Spanish lessons every day, reading 30 pages a day.

Over time, you will reap the rewards of the compound effect. It’s not what you do once a month that matters, it’s what you do every day that leads to huge success.

3. The Power of Brain Focus

There are two systems the operate our brain: The Automatic System (System 1) and The Deliberate System (System 2). For a complete breakdown of this you can read this article.

The bottom line is that our brain can only allocate so much energy, so it mostly functions out of the automatic system. This is why you can drive a car without having to think about the dozens of things that are going on at the same time. So we are constantly at the mercy of our automatic systems. Old habits, thought patterns, emotions, skills, etc.

If we don’t focus and tell our brain what to do, it always reverts back to what’s automatic.

We need to engage our “Deliberate System” that tells our brains what we want to focus on and accomplish. When our brain zeroes in on those things, it has an amazing ability to make those things become reality.

Here’s how you do this: 1) buy a journal. 2) write your vision on the first page every day. 3) look at it each morning and 4) write down what you want to accomplish for the day that gets you closer to fulfilling your vision.

The greatest year of your life

The 8% of people who are able to see their vision fulfilled and their goals accomplish do the 3 things outlined above. It’s often small, but consistent changes that make the difference between success and failure.

To make 2017 the year you accomplish thing things that matter to you, change your patterns. Consistency is the mother of mastery.

Don’t wake up and check your email or your phone, focus on your vision. Stop thoughtless and reactive living. Make up your mind to be a proactive person who is engaging the most important things in their life on a daily basis.

You can do this. 2017 will be the best year of your life if you make a habit of engaging in these simple practices. Stay positive and stay focused! The world needs the gifts you have to offer!