Aside from purchasing a planner and brainstorming for resolutions, there are more important things we need to prepare before we welcome the new year. Yes, I know it is quite difficult to plan when we are caught in the holiday celebrations and fun but we need to balance it out and make sure that we are physically, mentally, and spiritually ready to face 2021. Although we can never have certainty in life, we can have excitement and energy when we know that we took actions that would help us tread the journey awaiting us. So here are the things I suggest we do before the first hour of the new year strikes:

1. Set goals for your personal and professional life. Setting goals is best done before the new year starts because it will allow you to maximize the first month. When you already know your goals, you will already know your plans of action and when you’re going to start them. When planning is done before the new year starts, the first month can already be utilized for taking action. 
2. Equip yourself with the necessary skills to achieve your goals. The mindset that we usually have when the year is about to end is days off and fun, that is why we no longer want to think about anything concerning work or business. I believe, however, that the end of the year is the best time to prepare ourselves for the goals and challenges. This can be done by identifying first what knowledge and skills we need to have to achieve the goals we have set, then finding the right action that would enable us to acquire such knowledge and skills. Isn’t it better to start the new year fully equipped?
3. Put a closure to the things that made you unproductive. In the previous blog, I have included on the list of things to do before the year ends the identification of the reasons why we have not achieved some of our 2020 goals. This process can show us the habits or routines we have that contributed to our inability to achieve certain goals. If we can identify such unhelpful habits or routines, then we have to start working on letting those go before the new year.
4. Start new habits that will help you achieve your goals. Besides ridding ourselves of nonsensical habits, we should also start new ones that would help us become more productive, and make us more capable of accomplishing our goals. Since it is said that it takes days to form a habit, we should start developing the habits we want to keep for the new year before it starts so that the first month will not be wasted on adjustments. 
5. Revitalize yourself to be ready for what you are about to do. The current year brought us different types of stresses which made us exhausted not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For most of us, it extracted a lot of energy. For this reason, we need to allocate ample time to rest our body, mind, heart, and soul. This can be done through meditation, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle. 

If there were goals that did not materialize this year, the new year will be another chance to work for them. We may not know what the future holds but we should not just wait for it to unfold without physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually preparing for it. We should have a clear direction, tools, open mind, and courageous heart when we set out on a new journey. The above suggestions are some of the ways that would help us obtain these essentials. 

Do you think these are important? Or should we just go with the flow? 

Many people would agree that this year is the most challenging one so far because of the fear and uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Despite the hardships and pain that it brought to most of us, we all did our best to survive and thrive. We did our best to move forward by finding alternative ways to make things work even if it means trying something new and uncomfortable. A few more days and the year 2020 will finally come to an end. We are all hopeful and looking forward to the new year, but before we welcome it, here are things we should do first: 

1. Write a gratitude list. Despite the challenges we faced this year, we surely have a lot to be grateful for. To be reminded of our blessings, we have to count them and write them down. Before this year ends, we need to have a gratitude list.
2. Assess our 2020 results. Another important thing to do before the year ends is to check the status of our relationships, finances, health, and other important aspects of life. Are we happy about our health or lifestyle? Are we still connected with our family and friends? Did we spend more than what is necessary? These are important questions we need to ask ourselves to assess if we got the results that we desire. 
3. Make a list of all the things we have achieved this year. Aside from taking note of our blessings, it will also help us feel motivated to face the new year if we list all our achievements, may it be big or small. 
4. Thank the people who made a positive impact on our life. We should reach out to all the people who helped us get through the year in any way. Expressing our gratitude to them is our way to help them realize their achievements this year as well. Let us be one of the reasons they could still appreciate the year that was. 
5. Know the reasons why we have not achieved our other goals. When the year started, we might have set goals that became impossible to see through because of the global crisis we experienced. We should list those goals down and specify the reasons why those were not materialized. This piece of information will help us plan better for the new year. 

Nobody might have expected this year to turn out this way, but it gave us a lot of lessons and made us stronger, more resilient, and more resourceful. It brought out the best in many people, and it was a year of enlightenment. It is only fitting that we end it the right way so that all that we have learned will be applied in the next year. 

What do you think about these?

Why is it that we seldom find people who are fulfilled because they got what they want? I just recently found out the answer to this question.

In this life, we play a certain role. We have a set of responsibilities, and we do the necessary things to survive. We do these because we need to sustain ourselves for us to be capable of achieving what we want in life, which, usually for most people, is success. Success does not necessarily mean wealth, fame, or career. It could be a happy family life for some, or a simple laid back lifestyle for others. Regardless of what success looks like to each of us, it can’t be achieved if: 

1. We don’t set goals. Not having a goal is undeniably the top reason why we don’t get what we want. Goal entails the specific things that we need to obtain, perform, and complete for us to get closer to what we want. If our plans of action, steps, strategies, and methods are not clear, we would not know if what we’re doing would yield results that would bring us closer to our success. 
2. We care so much about what others say or think. Minding other people of what they say or think about us can make us a danger to our own selves. For instance, one person’s success means gaining financial stability or establishing his own business empire but some people close to him would always say that money is the root of all evil, or rich people have the most tendency to be evil, so he does not pursue his goals towards the success he wants. In other words, he sabotages his own success because he doesn’t want other people to think negatively about him.
3. We are afraid to take risks or fail. Either because of a past failure or disappointment, we become overly cautious and cynical on investing our resources, our time, and our feelings on things, experiences, or people that may lead us to get what we want most in life. Risks and failures are facts of life. In fact, a life journey is not meaningful without these. If we keep on playing on the safe side, how can we get what we want when it is on the other side?
4. We want to be ready before we go for it. We often intentionally miss opportunities that could have led us to where we want to be because we think that we need to be perfectly ready and equipped before starting our journey. We need to understand that experience is the best teacher. We can use the knowledge and skills we acquired through education, but we wouldn’t know the effectiveness unless we apply them in the real world. We have to prepare, yes, but we are not expected to be perfect before we start going after what we want.
5. We don’t focus on one thing. A lot of people believe that doing a lot of things at the same time can make success more possible because if one doesn’t work, one might. However, isn’t energy stronger when focused than when dispersed? Therefore, it is important to set goals that would lead us to the success we want and set our focus on accomplishing those one at a time. We should muster self-discipline enough to keep our eyes on our vision, not on other unimportant or unnecessary things.

If you are at a point in your life when you are confused why you just can’t make that ultimate dream happen, ask yourself these questions: did I set specific goals? Am I allowing myself to be affected by other people’s opinions? Am I willing to take risks? Am I afraid to fail? Did I work on getting what I want? Was I always distracted?

The answer to our question of why we are not getting what we want lies in us. 

Do you have any of the above tendencies? Share your thoughts.