A New Year’s Challenge

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

– Socrates

Welcome back! I hope the holidays were wonderful for you and your family. I know they were for ours.

Before we launch into accomplishing our goals and learning more about how to build great organizations, I wanted to issue you a challenge that I received just this morning.

The problem with this challenge is that it requires us to overcome two limitations. These two limitations will present themselves in practically everything you try to accomplish this year. Let’s first determine how to overcome this limitations, then I’ll present you the challenge.

Limitation # 1 – Time – Time is the great equalizer. Nobody on earth has more than 24 hours of each day. It is the most precious resource we have. It is the only resource that is completely non-renewable. Think about that. Think of all your resources – food, water, money. All renewable. Time – not such much.

Once you have spent a minute you can never get it back. But time is what is required to make any positive change in your life. Want to get in better shape in 2015 – it will require time. Time to plan your meals, time to work out.

An interesting phenomenon about time is that the more time you spend earlier in the process, the more efficient you become.

As an example, let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds over the next 3 months. What will you need to do? Eat healthier and work out. To eat healthier you will need to plan to eat healthier. Healthy meals don’t just show up at your office. We all know that unhealthy food is what just shows up. So, to eat healthy I need to plan, I need to go grocery shopping, I need to prepare food and most importantly – I need to know what I am going to eat in a day before that day begins.

If you don’t plan your meals you have to make multiple trips to the grocery store which wastes time. If you don’t plan your meals, you won’t eat as healthy as you should (been there). If you don’t eat as healthy as you should, but still want to make your weight loss goals then you have to work out longer and harder (again – more time).

This holds true if your goal is to make more sales, travel the world or spend more time with your kids. It takes a plan. Planning requires time. Making time to plan will reward you with 10x the results in less time than not planning!

Lesson – Make the time to plan. The return on investment will be fantastic.

Limitation # 2 – Reflection – I find this one really tough. I’m set up to be learner and I’m always looking for new things to learn – so I’m always on the “intake” of more information. I listen to books, sermons, etc. while I exercise. When I read I want to read faster so I can get more done in less time. You get the picture – I’m always in a state of taking in more information and rarely in the mode of digesting that information and reflecting on what I’ve learned, if I’ve implemented it and if it is working.

Businesses fall into this trap continuously. Who has the time for a strategic retreat to review what you accomplished last year and to plan the year ahead? It just takes so much time and I’ve got so much to do already!

When we assume we are too busy to plan and reflect, we are really setting ourselves up to waste far more time than we would if we will just make the investment into reflecting and planning.

So how can we best reflect? There is the yearly type of reflection that occurs in strategic planning retreats and family planning sessions, then there are the quarterly updates to see if things are on track. A lot of great organizations (and families – remember that your family is your most important organization!), do these things pretty well.

But life is lived one day at a time. Success in whatever endeavors we undertake occurs in your daily actions. How do you set yourself up for success each day? A rigorous dedication to daily reflection. See our series on Meetings that Work for more on how to maximize your team’s effectiveness each and every day!

I don’t know about you, but this is incredibly difficult in my life. I’m busy so I’m staying up too late or getting up early to get started on some project, task or goal. Getting quiet just feels like it is slowing me down.

What I’ve learned is that the secret to any success is that time of quiet reflection, followed by planning. As a Christian, this is the time when I can “hear” most clearly what His will is for me before the world starts placing its demands on me. This is a time to reflect on what I did the day before and plan for the day ahead. It is also a great time to change your plan if your results are not up to par.

Any goal you set can be accomplished by following this simple method. Plan, Do, Reflect, Re-Plan, Act – followed by NEVER GIVING UP!

Now to the assignment! Two things:

  1. Reflect on the 10 greatest things that occurred in your life last year. Once you get to 10 you will find it is hard to stop counting your blessings. Starting the New Year knowing how much you have and thanking God for it will be a key to your success in the upcoming year.
  1. Reflect on the 10 worst things that happened last year. How bad did it turn out in the end? How did God pull you through it? What good came of it? This will help you endure the storms that are bound to come. Problems always looks smaller in the rear view mirror. Knowing that whatever storms come will look much smaller a year from now is a key to enduring the troubling times.

As always, put all of this in writing! Next time you are feeling down you can look back and be thankful for all the blessings you received. When you hit your first bumps in the road this year, you can look back and remember how small this problem will probably look twelve months from now.

Here is to a great New Year for you and your family!

Thank you for being a part of our values driven community!

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