In short, life is about ACTION
Recently you heard from my FOS colleague Will on how knowledge by itself is simply not enough to truly accomplish your greatest goals, but that more importantly it’s about putting this knowledge to use.
I couldn’t agree more. In short, life is about ACTION. And with greater knowledge on a specific subject, your ability to be more precise and calculated with your actions significantly increases. The challenge here is that while news is being thrown at you by the second, it can become overwhelming as you attempt to digest all the information that is constantly being tossed your way. That said, with the world seemingly turning more quickly then ever, what commonly seems to be overlooked is not a person’s quest to learn about what’s going on around them, but it’s the time people spend seeking answers elsewhere rather then looking inwardly and aiming to gain knowledge of themselves.
There are two sides of knowledge and it is often forgotten how valuable the understanding of self truly is for a person. By taking the time to reflect upon your personal goals, dreams and desires, you become even more empowered to create your own path in life.
Coming full circle, this all points back to ACTION. And while most of us are still amazed by how quickly the year has flown by, it’s important not to let these last few weeks pass you without planning for the upcoming year. Of course we all know life is unpredictable and a lot of times plans get interrupted by unforeseen events, which many will use as an excuse to not plan for the year ahead; but don’t fall into this trap.
Now you don’t need to spend hours on end setting your roadmap for the upcoming year, but just like pretty much everything else in life, the more time you spend working towards something, the better you become at it and the more you’ll get out of it. The same can be said for people’s ability to understand themselves. So with that being said, here are two simple ACTION items in which you can take, spending as much time as you feel needed, to ensure you are able to hit the ground running next year.
1) Self Assessment — This is the time you take reflecting on the past year.
a. Look at what you did well, what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve been able to learn over the year.
b. Than, while remembering the things you listed above and staying positive, look at where you can improve on in the coming year.I’m sure just about everyone has a few of those 2016 New Year’s resolutions still on list of things to be checked off so don’t worry, you’re not alone.
c. This also doesn’t need to just be about your career, it’s simply an exercise for you to learn about yourself, whether it’s assessing your health or assessing the time, or lack thereof, that you were able to spend with your kids or your friends, it’s all relative.
2) Set Goals — Self-explanatory and something most people already do, but many still choose to forgo setting goals for the upcoming year. Very simply:
a. When setting goals, aim high but be realistic. Don’t set unattainable goals or you’ll only be frustrated with yourself next year.
b. Set tangible goals with specific ways to measure your achievements.
i. For example: “I will sell ‘X’ amount of ____ in 2017” OR “I will sign on ‘X’ amount of new clients.”
c. Again, look at the big picture when setting goals, it doesn’t all have to be about one thing or another, career, health, etc., this is about YOU!
As you are going through this process you will likely begin to realize more about yourself then you probably set out to learn. But that is the point, albeit to different degrees, knowledge can be absorbed just as much by looking inward as it can by reading the front page of the newspaper. As you spend the time understanding yourself better, you will learn more about what’s most important to you, what you are passionate about and what truly makes you tick. If after assessing the past year, you are unhappy with the results, use this as a wake up call and set out to take the steps to position yourself for a better upcoming year.
Remember just as there is always room for improvement; there is always something positive that can be taken out of whatever it is you’ve done over the past year. When it comes down to it, we are talking about working in sports, which is something you should always be grateful for. Don’t let the passion you had that got you here fade just because you’ve hit a rough patch; set out to learn more about yourself and leverage this knowledge to take ACTION!
And with that, as you get ready to start your own personal evaluation, let’s end with a clip that I’m sure all of us can relate to, reminding us of the excitement we all had getting that first opportunity in sports…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYNb9K0yvCc
https://upscri.be/a20611
