Alright, as I am writing this blog, there are only 6 weeks remaining in 2017. Some of you are on track to finish the year strong. Others, however, are not exactly where they want to be. Life happens – we have illness, loss of loved ones, distractions, and a multitude of reasons why we may not be precisely where we wanted to at this point in the year however the good news is this – with the right strategies you can organize your life now and finish 2017 with a sense of accomplishment and massive satisfaction.
At the beginning of any year, one of the top resolutions is to be more organized. My observation in putting over 1000 students through my Organize Your Life Fundamentals Program, is that people start the year with really solid intentions only to fall back into old patterns that sabotage any form of progress. Being organized can be tough especially if someone is accustomed to a comfortable degree of chaos however, in my opinion, what is tougher still is to finish a year feeling flat, as though we didn’t make any headway whatsoever.
What many people do is tell themselves that they will just get more organized next year. With The Holidays coming it is very seductive to put off our goals and aspirations until a new year however the reality is that if that form of thinking really worked then everyone would be as lean as they want to be, as wealthy as they want to be, have the most ridiculously fulfilling relationships they want to have, and achieve all of their goals. Repeat after me, ‘procrastination is not going to solve my problems.’
Is organizing your life going to assist you in getting what you want? You better believe it. Lack of organization is the number one enemy of success. Businesses fail because of it. Relationships become stagnant when the partners aren’t organized enough to carve out time for a date or even to make communication a priority. If you don’t have the body you want chances are you are not organized enough to schedule in your workouts, grocery shopping, and meal planning. Organization may not be the entire answer however it is a significant part of it.
What if some simple strategies could help you organize your life and finish this year feeling amazing? Let’s get started.
1. Take 5 Minutes and Prioritize Your Wish List
People have the tendency to run from thing to thing without pausing to ask themselves what is truly important right now. Take 5 minutes and make a wish list of things you would like to accomplish by the end of the year.
Your wish list are items that you want to accomplish by the end of the year. One strategy I use in business is to attach a dollar value to the item. For example if getting one of my company’s websites built by the end of the year is a priority, how much is that worth to me in the coming year? You can do the same thing with any goal. If releasing weight is a priority, what is the value of the increased energy, wellbeing, and health in your life? At the end of the day, money talks.
Once you have a dollar value, look at the items that will either make you the most money or offer a value that has an infinite worth such as saving your marriage, getting your blood pressure down, or finding a new career that will give you the work-life balance you crave. Organize your list accordingly.
2. Account for Lost Time
Okay, so you may not be where you want to be, however there is still ample time to get organized with your list. At this point in the year, with ten and a half months gone, it is essential to adjust our items to account for lost time.
For example if this was the year that you were going to write a book and you haven’t written a word, set the goal to write 6,000 words by the end of the year. If you had the goal of releasing 50 pounds and you are the same weight, set the goal of getting rid of 10 pounds in the next 6 weeks. If you had a goal to generate 100 new clients, and you have 10 new ones so far, double your number between now and the end of the year.
Some people set goals that are massive with tight deadlines only to set themselves up for disappointment. Instead, adjust your goal, and set yourself up to feel amazing.
3. Schedule ‘It’ In Your Calendar
It is one thing to say we want ‘it’ and another thing to create a schedule that aligns with what we say we want. Organizing our lives means we must organize our time. If we want to achieve anything, we must allocate the time to do so.
I have a list of ten items that are ‘musts’ by the end of the year. I have spent time over the past two days blocking off the necessary time to accomplish these goals. A look at my schedule illustrates that I am serious about getting these items done.
If your schedule does not reflect your desired outcomes, schedule time now.
4. Feel The Outcome
You will have ample opportunity over the remaining part of the year to get distracted. If you want to be organized, then you have to become laser focused. I suggest that my clients, and students, allow themselves to feel the outcome; to close their eyes and envision themselves accomplishing their goals in a very organized way.
How will it feel when you move closer to what you want? What will the sensation be in your body when you are organized enough to check key items off your list before the end of the year? Feeling the outcome allows us to create an emotional anchor which inherently can be a catalyst for getting things done.
5. Say ‘No’ To All Else…Unless It is Infinitely Better
You have your wish list, you know the value, financial and otherwise, you have scheduled the time, you have experienced the sensation of accomplishment and now the final strategy to getting organized and finishing 2017 on top is to say ‘no.’Â NO, NO, NO…no to anything that is not in alignment with your priorities.
A great example of this happened recently. One of my team members and I were at the Infusionsoft Partner Conference where we were exposed to many enticing APP’s that we could plug into our Infusionsoft system. There were several implementations that were mind-blowing however the time to learn them with a list of ten key priorities would have been a distraction. These APP’s are a ‘no’ for the next 6 weeks but definitely a ‘worth a look’ in January.
If you truly want to get organized, you must be able to say ‘no.’Â With the clock ticking and so many opportunities to throw in your newfound passion for getting stuff done by December 31st, ‘no’ will have to be your new favorite word.
I wish you every success in organizing your life and finishing the year strong. If you are ready to get ridiculously organized, I recommend reading my book – Organize Your Life. 5 minutes per day can radically assist you in becoming more productive. I know this first hand because these are strategies I use myself.
PS – DO NOT BUY MY SIGNATURE COURSE – OYL FUNDAMENTALS! Yes, I want you to get organized and yes, yes, yes, I want 2018 to be the year you crush it. I also want to save you money. On Tuesday, November 21st, we are having a one-day sale on Fundamentals. Check your email inbox and social media. Spread the word. I would love to see you make 2018 your most productive year yet.
