Make ME Better in the New Year
Your personal development is something you own. You need to be proactive in looking for ways to continue to make yourself a better leader. How do you feel, both mentally and physically? There are several things you can do to help in both areas. Here are a few ideas to help you get started in becoming a better YOU In the new year.
What Are You Grateful For?
Set aside some time just for yourself. Find a quiet space and ensure you can dedicate at least an hour to reflecting on the past year. In this time, walk yourself back through each month of the previous year, both in your personal and professional life. Write down the five most significant things you are grateful for over the past twelve months. Additionally, add why you are grateful for those items. What do they mean to you or your family? What makes them significant to you? Finally, take time to read through everything one last time and allow yourself to smile and feel the happiness and gratitude.
Top Successes from 2017
Take time to think about your biggest successes were from the previous year. What makes those successes in your mind? What did they afford you? What impact did they have on those around you? Were these personal successes or team successes? What contributed to those successes? What can you learn in hindsight from those successes? What would you do differently? What can you apply forward to ensure you do more of it in the coming year? Again, allow yourself some time to enjoy the successes and how they make you feel. Capture that feeling and keep it somewhere you can review throughout next year so you can get that same feeling twelve months from now.
Get in Shape
If you are anything like me, you start every year saying I want to do more exercise. This is definitely one where talking about it is about as far from doing it as can be. So what will be different this year? Exercise has so many benefits. Exercising is proven to provide you more energy, put you in a better mood, and help you have a clearer mind. If you cannot convince yourself to do it for the physical benefits, do it for the mental ones. Start small and build up to a more robust program. You could start simply by stretching each morning for 5 minutes. Or, make it even simpler, and start with a single push up after you brush your teeth each morning. You might want to check out TinyHabits.com as a place to start your journey towards exercise habits. At the site they encourage, no, they demand that you start with extremely simple steps to get you started. Any new habit begins with a first step. And in this case, exercising more to get in shape is a valuable, multi-beneficial step to take.
Disconnect and Recharge
Before you say, I cannot disconnect. It doesn’t have to be for days or weeks to get some of the benefits. Start with a day or even a half day where you turn all of your electronic devices off and just connect with a hobby, your family, or the friends around you. No email, no social media, and ideally no other media (TV, streaming etc.). It will be hard… at first. Then as the day progresses you may find that you can go the full day without these.Make some time to just do nothing. Really. Just be with yourself, quiet and mindful of your surroundings. This could be an excellent time to give thought to those things you are grateful for or what successes you realized in the past year. The holidays can be a good time to take this challenge on. Many times others are on vacation and email is less busy, allowing you to feel more comfortable to be disconnected for a period of time. I would challenge you to move from the half day starting point to a full weekend or any consecutive days to be fully disconnected. Get some extra sleep. Catch up on reading and relaxing. The benefits should be huge once you plug back in.
Update Your Personal Development Plan
Take some time to review and update your personal development plan. What do you want to accomplish in your self-development journey over the course of the next twelve months? What are some actions and activities that might get you to that point? You can reference my previous article on building your Personal Development Plan. This is a good opportunity to review what you accomplished for yourself in the past year and what steps you want to take next. Once you have completed this you will be set to sit down with your supervisor, mentor, or coach to discuss what you have done and where you want to go next.These five steps are designed to be all about you and setting yourself up for a great year. As a leader, others will take their cues from you. You need to ensure that you are fresh, energized, and ready to take on the new year and the opportunities that await.What else have you done to prepare yourself for the next year? Share your ideas and stories in comments.