One Quarter Down; Three To Go

It’s the last Sunday in March; the time the clock changes which also signals the start of proper spring. The clock changing is a reminder that the bright sunny days of summer are just round the corner which I welcome wholeheartedly. The one thing that I am also reminded of in March is that it signals the end of the first quarter of the year.

Many people set goals at the start of the year or have ‘informal’ things they are working towards; March is a natural milestone and checkpoint opportunity. It is our opportunity to look at the differences we have made in three months, assess any gaps and revise our plans if needed.

What’s on your annual ‘to do list’ and how are you getting on with them? What needs to change? Have you bitten off more than you can chew or do you need to realign your goals? What spanners has life thrown in your way and what unexpected obstacles do you now need to navigate?

Most of us have our own learnings from the past three months. Some have dealt with unexpected job losses, others have embraced new work opportunities and some are behind on their goals through no fault of theirs. Many will be behind simply because they lacked the discipline to follow through on their commitments.

The news isn’t all that bad because we have nine months to go. This is enough time for a baby that is conceived this week to be born by the end of the year. If such a miracle can happen in that time period, it means we can also make many other little miracles happen in our lives if we start the processes today.

What do we need to do?

Do an honest assessment

You need to know why you are behind and that requires you being honest with yourself, recognising your time wasters and excuses and admitting where you might have dropped the ball.

We all drop the ball sometimes but it’s what we do afterwards that counts.

Deal with your motivation

Is your motivation today the same, more or less than it was at the time you made your commitments? What has changed since then?

If you are less motivated, then you need to go back to the drawing board and remind yourself of your why. Without commitment and discipline, you might as well not bother to set goals.

Determine the price

What price do you need to pay to make things happen? Something always has to give and we are deceived if we think we can truly have it all.

The price can be time away from family or friends, less income, less time for entertainment, less ‘me time’, more studying and less playing, less distractions and more focused times; the list goes on. The reality is nothing will happen unless we are willing to do what it takes.

I was chatting with someone recently and we joked about some health benefits that we wanted but also recognised it would take some work to get them – and this was work that didn’t sound exciting.  

Deal with bad habits

A few years ago, I suffered from Sciatica pains and I was told it was the result of sitting for too long, driving my car in the wrong sitting position and being stuck in traffic. It took months of physio, Pilates and yoga to resolve the issue.

I wish I could say it was a ‘one and done’ solution but the truth is that I have to adopt healthier habits for the rest of my life to keep sciatica pains at bay. I have to remember to stretch my muscles, get up every hour and still do the right forms of exercises.

Many of us have poor habits that hinder us from accomplishing our goals; this could be time spent on social media, distractions at work or home, boredom that we accommodate, not having a plan, not reviewing our plans in a methodical manner, poor time management, poor organisation skills, hanging out with the wrong crowds and spending time on the wrong things.

We must identify the habits that are enabling us and those that are hindering us. Build more of the enabling habits and deal with the distracting ones.

Recontract with yourself

Many of us will get things done to impress others, we will get things done in the workplace out of fear of recrimination, we get things done for people we hold in high regard and those in positions of authority and influence.

What is stopping us from wanting to impress ourselves, hold ourselves in high regard and count the cost of failing ourselves? The reality is that most of us put ourselves at the bottom of the ‘food chains’ of our own lives and consequently take ourselves for granted.

It’s time to love ourselves as we love others. It’s time to keep our promises to ourselves and accomplish the goals that matter to us. Recontract with yourself and be reminded that you also matter.

In conclusion, we have nine months to get it right. These months will come and go whether we do any work or not. We can choose to end the year with those goals accomplished or with excuses.

Thanks for reading and sharing my post; have a great week.