For some days now I’ve been having a 3D playback of how 2017 went and a forecast of how 2018 is going to be. Although 2017 was a great year for me as I was able to start 60% of the projects I had in mind at the beginning of the year. I want 2018 to be better, not just for me but for my immediate and larger environment. This reflections and forecasts prompted me take out my note to write some of the things I would love to improve on in my life. Some may call it “resolutions” but I'll rather just list mine.
Stop procrastination
This has been a major struggle for me this year and I know it's not just me so we have to make conscious efforts to kill this guy.
”Procrastination is like a credit card, it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill”
- Christopher Parker
How do I want to do it? I’ll just start with the work at hand.
Gain more confidence
Naturally I’m more of an introvert but in 2018 I’m going all out. I’ll talk to at least 5 people everyday and explore new depths in my business and career, and believe more in myself.
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful”
- Mark Victor Hansen
Manage stress
I plan to do this by delegating less relevant chores and create just a little time to work out and rest every week.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
– Lou Holtz.
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress”
– Viggo Mortensen.
Be tidier
In all aspects of my life. Tidy room, tidy mind.
“One way to organize your thoughts is to tidy up, even if it's in places where it makes no sense at all”
- Ursus Wehrli.
Be more fashionable
I don’t mean going all sophisticated and getting expensive clothes, but just making my appearance more stylish. I’m thinking of following a celebrity with a simple but stylish dress sense.
“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.”
— Miuccia Prada.
“You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it”
— Edith Head
Save more
Saving money has been close to impossible in the past but I intend to correct this habit by opening a separate bank account (without an ATM card), then save at least 10% of the money I make monthly.
“As long as you continue to spend less each month, eventually you will be able to start putting that extra money into savings. There is hope for everyone to save money. Do not feel like it is impossible to start saving. Instead start taking action and work towards your money saving goals. It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.”
- Robert Kiyosaki.
Volunteer and give more to charity
This wouldn’t be new to me as I had begun this in 2017. I wish to make more prosthetic and orthotic devices for less privileged amputees and related patients by saving at least 5% of the money I earn monthly. I want to make it a foundation: “save a limb”, and also donate more free food, all in addition to my current charity project.
“We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest.”
― Orison Swett Marden.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
― Winston S. Churchill
Read more
I’m sure you already know the many benefits of reading. Although this was part of my resolutions in 2017, I couldn’t still read as much as I wanted to, but I’ve decided to put in more effort to read at least 2 books a week.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss
"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"
“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
― Oscar Wilde.
Get better at everything I do
These include my business, prosthetics and orthotics, music, inspiring, fitness and relationships. I intend to grab any opportunity I have to develop myself in these areas. I’ll begin with furthering my music education, attending conferences and reading these books: Idea Virus (Seth Godin), You Can Negotiate Everything (Herb Cohen), Essential Drucker (Peter), Eat That Frog (Brian Tracy), How To Win Friends And Influence People (Dale Carnegie).
Take self defence courses
I can imagine the look on your face but come on, this is very vital. You should be able to talk with anyone and stand up for yourself where necessary especially if you live in the kind of city I live in.
Imagine walking with a girl along a street and two weak guys threaten to rape her or something, do you just beg? Hell no! You beat the heck out of them. But really I’ve always wanted to learn martial arts and boxing, so I’m getting my outfits and gears.
“The two most important things to do for self-defense are not to take a martial arts class or get a gun, but to think like the opposition and know where you're most at risk.”
- Barry Eisler.
“Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for a third”
― Brandon Sanderson Steelheart
Work Out, Work Out and Work Out
I made conscious efforts to exercise last year and the results were amazing. Better shape, more confidence, great health (I never fell ill throughout the year) and other incredible benefits. So I plan to take it up a notch by making it not just about me but to people around me and my steemit community. #workit-out “Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate.”
“The world wasn't formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them.”
- Lee Hane.
“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”
- John F. Kennedy
I think it’s a long list already so I’ll just run through the rest
· Dedicate 15 to 30 minutes to just thinking
· Stay positive always
· Hang out with other goal-oriented, optimistic, enthusiastic and successful people, especially on steemit.com
· And finally, stick to the good and healthy habits that I have developed
By the way these notes are not restricted to just me, please feel free to adopt where necessary and work to make it work. Start today, start now. Just in case you noticed the quotes at every point I feel a quote lets you look through the eyes of another person, and gives you the opportunity to see their perspective. It allows you to see what they might have learned in a lifetime, almost instantly. So when ‘stuff’ seems complicated, sometimes all you need is a different vantage point to look at things differently and a quote lets you do that.
Please don’t forget to upvote, resteem and comment.
I wish you a happy & prosperous 2018