Stephen Covey, one of the most prolific leadership authors of our times, says there are six things you can do right now to make 2009 your best year ever.
1. Be proactive.
It’s more than just taking initiative. It means being responsible for your own life. Empower yourself to lead and spread your influence no matter what position you hold.
It means being responsible for your own life. That’s why I like the quote “Get busy living or get busy dying”. If you’re not being proactive in life, you’re not taking full advantage of life.
For me, I will take more chances. Learn to say “yes” a bit more often. I’m guilty of hoping for the right opportunity to come to me. That’s my old way of thinking. Gradually I am stepping away from that. Now I know that only those who work hard, will have those magical opportunities come to them. It’s not luck. It’s a result of hard work.
We control our lives. We determine how we will live it. Don’t be scared of that power. Embrace it.
2. Sharpen the saw.
Decide what’s truly important. Sharpen your saw early in the day by learning to say no to the unimportant and yes to the highly important.
Covey describes this as deciding what is truly important. Learn to say no to the unimportant and yes to the highly important early in the day. That way you’ll be more productive.
I know we are al guilty of spending time on meaningless tasks everyday. Too many e-mails, too much TV, too much internet, etc.
What I will do is I will stop checking Facebook constantly all day (I’m not the only one I know). I will stop aimlessly surfing the internet. I will focus on getting my projects done. Setup new campaigns. Scale ones I have. Keep learning. When I do that, I’ll feel like I have accomplished more than finding out new apps for my Iphone.
However i do want to enjoy all those things too. So instead of working on a project and having a tab opened to ESPN.com or any other side not related to work on the side, I’ll take breaks to allow myself to do that and then focus on my work. That’ll be hard because that’s been a habit of mine but I’ll try at least.
3. Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.
It’s human nature to want to be understood, but when both parties are trying to be understood, neither party is listening. By making the investment to understand the other party, you can magically transform the course of your conversations.
I always felt like I have been a good listener. In groups I do more listening than talking. For me, I feel more comfortable. I like to listen and learn. And also it’s just a great trait to have when you meet new people. Be a good listener and you’ll have better relationships with everyone in your life. Also you can learn so much more.
4. Begin with the end in mind.
Start today with an image of the end of your life as the frame of reference by which everything else is examined. With a clear idea of where you are going, examine everything in the context of what matters to you most.
I understand the value of visualization. Before I didn’t believe it but now I am a big believer. If you read any book on success, or talk to any successful person, they will say visualization is a big key to success.
Thinking about your life as a whole is important as he wants us to do but for now I just want to focus on 2009.
So I will visualize myself at the end of 2009 making six figures from affiliate marketing, PPC, Adsense, this website, and whatever other money making opportunities present itself to me. Goals need to be more specific so I’ll say $121,000. Sounds ridiculous? Right now from this blog, I have one reader, me, and am in the negative on my campaigns because I’m learning. So yes it sounds ridiculous. But a couple guys wanted to download and index the whole world wide web and create a search engine awhile back. Or two guys wanted to build a plane. Sounded pretty ridiculous then too right?
But I have learned to be believe in setting my goals high. I’ve learned it takes the same amount of energy, thinking and dreaming to want to make $1000 versus $100,000. If for some reason I fall short and only make half that amount, I’ll still be happy with this year. However I will not fall short.
For further visualization, I will write that number down on a sheet of paper and be sure I see them every morning when I get onto my computer to remind myself of the number I want to attain.
With that work, I only work when I want to and am able to do this work from anywhere around the world. Allowing me to travel and take mini-vacations whenever I want. Sounds great 2009 to me.
5. Develop a vision mission statement.
Get a deep sense of your life’s mission, purpose and value system, then establish your goals and a system of accountability that keeps you on track.
This is a long term mission that is important so I’ll have to take time to plan this out.
6. Think win-win.
There is enough success for everyone, so don’t view another person’s success as success achieved at your expense or exclusion.
From reading forums and blogs, when someone successful posts their earnings for the month, there are haters who don’t believe it for a second. I believe it’s jealousy. Look, if that person is actually lying about his earnings then that’s him being childish. But whatever the case, I’ll take it as motivation to get to that level. If one person is lying about his earnings, there’s a handful out there who make the same or more who are honest about it.
There’s enough money and success to go around for everyone.
In conclusion, you can apply these six principles to any area of your life. Take some time to think about each one and write them down and be sure to read them everyday. You will be amazed by the results.
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