Personal Insights and Steps to fulfilling your New Year's resolution

Planning and Doing it

Planning can be fun, but the implementation of it really sucks. I have had my share of difficulties planning and carrying them out. 

I think a lot of times rather than the process of planning the difficulty would lie for me in implementing the plan.

So one question would be how to plan...Like where to begin and what focus we need to keep. 

Today I shall deal with some of the questions related to planning and look at relevant areas to help us complete our resolutions and make this year a more fruitful year.

Getting confused solutions

So, before I begin let me tell you a story. Years back I was detected for high cholesterol. I got really worried about it. 

So I decided to reduce my weight. I started speaking to people about weight loss. 

But it soon dawned upon me that I was getting a lot of advice and most of it would contradict each other. This made me think how much of  what I learnt from people was right or even accurate. It was really difficult to discern right from wrong. 

I had to admit it to myself that I just did not know much about nutrition or weight loss. So I approached a professional. 

He planned my diet after doing to various tests. I followed it religiously. 

Losing & Gaining Weight...

The trigger for me to pursuing my New Year's resolution was a health issue I was trying to deal with. 

I needed a concrete solution and so the acceptance of my ignorance in dietetics and nutrition pushed me to getting professional advice.

Sometimes one of the reasons why we get discouraged and do not pursue our goals is lack of proper counsel and support.

You will not believe I lost a lot of weight and cholesterol too. In a months time results were very much visible. Within a year I had my health under control.

All these experiences really encouraged me. 

Some Personal Insights

This experience taught me a whole lot of things.

1. Accepting there is an issue:

Our goals are triggers (quite often) from the things we want to change or improve. So understanding the real issue can be quite a motivator

Just wanting an outcome can motivate one to a certain extent, but also understanding the underlying problem can be of real good help.

It can motivate us to deal with the issue with the right pace and focus.

2. Jack of all trades and mastering none:

Just having the realization that cursory knowledge is not enough can be a humbling experience. 

It can help one to see the importance of getting a mentor or an expert to deal with the problem. Self-help does not mean you have to do it alone.

Joining a community or getting in touch with a professional can be really useful.

3. Sticking to the plan:

I have realised looking back at some of the difficulties I faced while trying to get healthy, There was a whole lot of them and religiously being focused and not given up matters.

When you achieve your set goal, It feels really great and it can be life changing.

It builds in you a new confidence and energy. 

Following the plan to fulfill your Goals is worthwhile, so prepare a good plan and stick with it.

Free Bonus Tip

Modifying your plans and Changing course:

Sometimes it becomes necessary to adapt and change. This could be due to new information or feedback. 

Modifying plans should not be seen as abandoning your resolution nor as taking a tangent. It can be seen as a course correction.

Just like how a Rocket course corrects to reach a particular destination, we can do the same.

I believe it should be expected and one should be prepared for the same.

So before I let you go, let me end with this thought.

Insightful Quote on Goals

Don't make your goals just a wish

So don't just make wishes and build hope, Plan and implement it. 

Don't just plan and implement it, learn new ideas and get constant feedback. 

Don't pursue it alone get a mentor or guide, and also if possible join a community. 

But whatever you do believe in yourself and confidently move ahead.

Steps To Building a Simple Plan

 I would summarise my experience into the following Steps for Planning

In Summary

A New Year is an opportunity to bring new hopes and aspirations to reality. Let us use to help ourselves and others too.

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Goodbye 2019

2020 reminds me that it has been 20 yrs since people thought the Y2k bug would end things (Lol). It has been such a long journey since then. Before I start sharing some information and insights, Let me begin by thanking all my readers and supporters for taking the time to be on my website and read the posts and articles I share.

I always started New Year with reading the astrology section to check how my year was going to be ( although, I don't believe in Astrology ) and with keeping a list of things to do for the coming year.

But this year, I thought of doing it differently, I did not read the Astrology section (anywhere) and I did not keep a to-do list or as some may say resolutions. I just started the year being thankful and grateful.

Being Grateful

Power of Gratefulness: Practice Gratefulness in 2019

I prayed and thanked God for all joys and pains that taught a lot of life lessons.

I was joyful and grateful for the time I spent with loved ones who did not make it to this year.

I was thankful for just having the joy to experience life and the joy of just being able to experience things.

.... And a lot more

I am sure that keeping a resolution will work great for a lot of people, and it may not work for many, but just looking back, being thankful feels fulfilling and blessed.

I am sure there have been a lot of great ideas and lessons each one of us carries forward to the next year.

Here are some of the lessons I take to 2020:

# Life Lesson No. 1:  Every Moment is an Opportunity

Every Moment has the potential to change the future

I think this in my experience is something that each of us know very clearly and take it for granted. 

The idea that every moment in the present is an opportunity. 

Seizing the moment, learning from the past and keeping the future in mind can really help us chart ahead with our focus onto our visions. 

Healthy reflection and practicing daily gratefulness can help us mentally and spiritually but it can also help us see how relevant our daily tasks are in fulfilling our goals and visions.

# Life Lesson No. 2:  Life is a Journey

Life is like a journey of life experiences

It always got me thinking about what does one do after achieving a vision. The answer is very simple to set a new vision.

 A vision is not something that is static. It is a response to the needs we and others share. It should work towards making the world a better place. 

Now we can think this so abstract. I believe it is not abstract. I think the problem is when we try to fix everything.

 I think one should be focused on a single-core problem and begin to diversify.

So if you are helping someone by creating a product or offering a service start by focusing on developing one product at a time. 

If it works then diversify to other products or services.

# Life Lesson No. 3:  Feedback and Course Correction

Course Corrections is a vital part of achieving goals

Lastly, This is a very important lesson I take to the Next year.

That is how to perceive a victory or a loss.

When we are victorious I think it wise to take it as feedback that your strategies are working (unless it could also be some sort of unexpected streak of good luck) 

and when does not win, it should be an opportunity for course correction.

Concluding Thoughts

One of the gifts you can give yourself is to ponder on some of the lessons life has taught you in 2019 and use it to make 2020 a better one. 

Once again wish you a wonderful New Year and please like and subscribe to our Facebook page. 

Please do share your thoughts and some of the Life lessons you would be taking to the coming year.

Further Reading

138 New Year's Resolutions for 2020

Benefits of Taking Short Breaks 

Cost of Being too Nice

Life and Dogma

I just came across this quote from Steve Jobs, " Don't be trapped by Dogma...". This got me thinking about Dogma from a Religious sphere and personal growth related sphere they were the same and different both at the same time. In the Religious sphere ( I am referring to Christianity, that is my belief system), it is based on God-given revelation, so logically it cannot be contradicted as God ( All perfect being is revealing it), but the dogmas that we carry about things in our lives or we may say related to personal growth are not revelation and therefore can be replaced. 

Your own experience matters

We may come up with better ideas and ways of looking at things. Sometimes we can get so caught up in other People's experiences that we can hold our selves back from experiencing it ourselves. So like in Religion we need to build our own reservoir of personal experience and learning to grow. We must build ourselves by daily succeeding or failing.

Being Guru or Sophist

Some days ago I was watching a video critiquing a major Internet guru. I won't name him, because I do respect him and I learned a lot of ideas from him. People say he is a scam because his courses are exorbitant and they do not produce the result as they imagined it. This kind of criticism really makes me think whether skills and growth are achieved only in a day, a year or a couple of months.

It is so easy to speak badly about people, but the fact is that Personal growth is a Personal Responsibility.

Importance of Trying

I believe like anything it requires constant learning, application and course correction to achieve positive results.

Imagine if you are learning acting professionally and expect to become a thorough actor overnight it is senseless. Of course, there are prodigies, but the rule for the rest of us is to constantly work at ourselves and learn more so that we can move further down the road to self-development.

The relevance of Healthy criticism

I would like to say that criticism is essential but also healthy appreciation can go a long way. There are a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing ( Fake gurus or Charlatans ) and we must practice critical thinking, but not applying what you learn and not keeping healthy expectations is not healthy and not realistic as well.

In Short

Be Real, Keep Learning and Try it out, If it works for you try to get better at it.

Keep checking this space for more articles. Do join our community on Facebook and share this insight with a friend.

Concretising abstract realities

• Step 1: Understanding yourself

This is the first step towards branding, it is getting a better understanding of oneself. This would mean taking a self-audit and trying to dig deeper within to get a clear understanding of our nature or personality. You could do this, keeping in mind how you view yourself and how others see you. This is the first step towards your goal of Personal Branding.

• Step 2: Evaluate the brand that you are

Unconsciously we all are creating a reputation or an image of ourselves in the mind of people. So eventually we are branding ourselves. So whether people understand you or misunderstand you. It is important to understand how they perceive you.

A simple step to begin the process would be doing a bit of research. You could start by asking your closing friends about your strengths and weaknesses. You could then evaluate them with your own responses to similar questions. This could be a good beginning to understanding how people perceive you as a brand.

• Step 3: Develop a Brand mantra
  

Every successful company or personality has a short phrase or mantra that encapsulates the essence of its brand. 

You could start by trying to understand how you differ from other people in the industry (that you are employed in) or if you are a student, you could compare the points that differentiate you from other students.

You could also look at points of similarity between you and the rest. This will help you build a list of points of differentiation and similarity with others. Now put it all together and build a short phrase or around it. This is your Brand Mantra. Some might even call it the essence of the brand.

• Step 4: Offline Branding
  

Now that you have a branding mantra, Let us move to the next step. 

In our daily lives, we interact with a lot of people. We communicate and speak to a lot of topics every day, maybe with words, the things we do, our gestures or maybe just the way we appear. All this builds an image of us in the minds of people. 

So with offline branding, we shall use these same points to our advantage. Keeping in mind our Branding mantra we shall coordinate ourselves accordingly. So this could be the design of our visiting cards, our appearance or even the way we greet people every day. We shall do these activities intentionally and thoughtfully. These will help you build a strong and effective reputation with the people you know and meet every day.

• Step 5: Branding yourself online

Even if we do not realize it, our activities online and our digital life can play an important role in the process of personal branding. These could be the messages we forward on Social media or the comments we pass online. It all matters in the process of Personal Branding.

Our Digital Lives Play an important role 

So a Social media audit can be done online of all the social media platforms we use. After evaluating your interactions online, you could create a concrete strategy to help yourself in the process of brand building. Your image online and offline should synergize for it to be effective.

• Step 6: Communicate the message of your brand

Now after you have created an online and offline branding strategy you need to implement it. I am not saying your execution will be perfect, but if you don't start it there will be no benefit. Another important thing is that Personal Branding is not about faking an image that is not you. The easiest and smartest way is to be yourself.

• Step 7: Recieve Feedback
  

I believe feedback is highly essential to improve and perform better. So try getting regular feedback from people. This could be done by evaluating how things have improved for you after personal branding or even by asking people who are close to you. This feedback can then be used by you to improve your offline and online branding strategies.

Putting it all together

Branding has been used successfully by Celebrities, Politicians and influencers alike to build a brand out of themselves. Time for you to leverage your best and build a personal brand. 

This, of course, takes some effort but it is worth it and it has a lot of benefits. People begin to have a better impression of you, they could begin to trust you more or even perceive you thorough as a professional. 

Personal Branding is all about enhancing your strengths and communicating them effectively. It is not about creating a fake image or reputation of yourself.

Kind words on Personal Branding

Gary Vaynerchuck has some important ideas for helping you create a personal brand. He stresses the important understanding that whether one is a small or big brand, it is a brand. Another important aspect is to understand that a lot of times besides looking at your brochure or reading your resume, People just check you out online.

 Lastly, I think Gary stresses the difference between understanding the concept and applying it.

Check out the video below:

Some important Ideas by Gary Vaynerchuck

• People read Google before reading your Resume.
• Hello! Everybody is selling
• It's the only thing you have
• Even a small brand is important
• It's okay to be yourself
• Don't be stupid about the whole process
• Application of the concept has its nuances

Summary

So here it is some ideas and techniques to actually use to create a Personal Brand. One might ask, Why do I want to create one. There are many reasons. Please share your reason in the comments section. We shall look into the benefits of Personal Branding in some other article in much more detail.

Ciao! Take care...