One of the things I learned from my parents was to always do my best no matter what I decided to do. Do my best the first time around, not halfheartedly. If I was to commit to something, I was told to think carefully and commit to it completely. I remember how I would grumble when being told to do something again, or if I complained about wanting to skip an activity. It is something that has stayed with me and although I didn’t appreciate it then, I certainly do now. Sometimes we do things halfheartedly because we are unsure of the outcome, getting hurt, or scared about being successful. Several of my clients, as we moved forward, have looked at me with wide eyes of terror. “OMG! What happens when this works!!!”

Decide to do your best in everything that you do. Make a stand for excellence, make it a part of your mantra. Fully commit, it’s time to not just dip our toes in – it’s time to jump in and swim as hard as we can.

As we move into a new decade and a new year, this is often a time that we make changes and become motivated to do better. The key is making it sustainable over time. Take on too much and we fail miserably, take on too little and we are not doing justice to our potential. Like Goldilocks with the 3 bears, we want to get it just right.

10 Tips to Getting Success Just Right

  1. Choose goals wisely and carefully, with the commitment to do it full on and to do your best. That means giving it everything you have and commit to it.
  2. Choose to do just one thing first. If there is a big goal or it’s part of a big dream, create a ladder to reach the top.
  3. Make the habit stick. Master that one thing before adding onto it or moving onto the next step.
  4. Make it sustainable. When we take on too much too soon, usually because of shear enthusiasm, we can burn out quickly and have blind spots. Seasoned gym goers see this all too often. The gym is crowded in January and by mid-February, the gym is back to normal. A huge 80% of people fail with a goal in the first 8 weeks! Develop habits of excellence that endure time and slowly, steadily build on one another. Just like in Aesop’s Fables, be the tortoise and win the race.
  5. Stay connected. Never lose sight of what the big goal or dream is, stay connected with written plans, charts, visual images, dashboards. Review them every morning and evening to stay connected.
  6. Commit to excellence, do your best in every task that is taken on. Even with simple tasks around the house, make your bed the best that you can, take pride in what you do.
  7. Only compare yourself with yourself. It’s not about comparing yourself to others, there may be others who might be better than you. If we are doing our best and giving it everything we’ve got, we simply can’t do more. Now that doesn’t mean of course that we can’t get better over time, it’s about doing your best in that moment.
  8. Create accountability. Find someone that will spur you on, give you a nudge and tough love. It could be a coach, a friend, a family member or colleague. When we have accountability, we are more likely to succeed. Statistics show 90% of people who have a strong accountability partner succeed.
  9. Celebrate the successes. Often, we focus on what we didn’t accomplish. Instead look at what has been achieved, where progress and a difference has been made. It’s very easy to brush over and not acknowledge where skills have been mastered or where there have been improvements. What have you achieved over the past year that you are proud of? Where did you do your best?
  10. Create awareness. Have awareness around what we say, how we act and what we do. Be mindful about destructive comments to yourself and others. Lookout for what is being discounted. Whether it’s because you think you already know something, or because it is not believable as being able to be achieved – watch out for the background internal chatter.

Time Management to Leverage Your Day tip:

Love your buffers

Whenever I work on tasks I add in about 20% more time than I think it will take. This enables me to finish ahead of the game rather than coming from behind. Most stress occurs because we feel under pressure from a time deficiency. By adding a buffer of time you remove the pressure and have you feel more in control.

Sincerely and Happy 2020,

Elaine Betts