Fighting the January Blues….

Feeling Blah in January?

Flu season, sick kids and colleagues, cold weather, shorter days, new payroll tax taking a bite from our paychecks, post-Holiday blues, as well as all those bills arriving for oil, propane and holiday shopping, are enough to make anyone feel blue.

What can you do the shake
off the blues, readjust your attitude and come out a winner?

Have a Plan:

Some folks find it amusing that I use New Year’s Day to write in my journal and put all my hopes, dreams and aspirations for the full year in a book. Once I write it all out for my eyes only, I then craft it into a useable plan of action.

If you are a business owner, a lot of what we want to accomplish personally hinges on how well our business performs and whether we meet those business goals first. It is much easier to spend more time at the gym or with the family if we do not have to stress about money, employees, sales targets, etc. So if you are a business owner, write the business plan first.

Crafting the Plan:

Start big, think big, dream and write it down.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

What would you want to accomplish in one
year?

Sitting in this same chair a year from
now, what would you like to be able to record as your accomplishments?

Lay out the full year’s goals. Separate the business from the personal.

• Now break it down to a quarter.
• Take the quarter and break your goals down into one month increments.

At the start of each month, you can take those monthly goals and break them down in to one week goals.

Each morning you can get up, look at that weekly goal and say to yourself…”what can I do today to get myself closer to that weekly goal?” Plan your day accordingly.

Now to really stay focused, laminate those monthly goals and hang them in the shower. First thing each morning,  you will see those
monthly goals and the wheels will start spinning.

Tools to Stay on Track:

Just like a diet, if you fall off the program, you simply readjust. Start again. Take one step and then another and before you know it you are heading toward success.

Do not be discouraged if you do not meet your big goals. If you had not set about to achieve these goals in the first place, you would be behind where you are now.
So any steps toward goals are good as long as you are being true to yourself.

Personally, I still prefer the old fashioned day planner. I was trained by Franklin before they became Franklin Covey and I still use those planners. I am a high visual so I like to see my entire month(s) laid out and what I have to do when all on one page and not my smart phone calendar.

If you are an online person, any calendar tool can work as long as you can see
your roadmap.

The important thing to do is to write out a plan for the day. Taking 20 minutes the night before will help you be so much more productive the following day.

Write a list, prioritize it. I write the macro goals such as “call clients” on
the left side and then I place details on the right-hand side such as the list
of all clients I plan on calling that day. You can then be very focused and go
from task to task even if you are interrupted. You stay on track.

Lists Work!

My friends laugh at me as I go to the grocery store with a list. But I do not see how you shop without one.  I plan out my menu for the
week and shop to fill that menu. I keep a list in the kitchen to write down
ingredients or supplies as I need them so grocery shopping is fast and
efficient.

The same thing works for life. Write down your goals whether they are personal exercise goals such as hit the gym, do a Zumba class, meditate or business goals such as attend more networking events, land new clients, read a self-help business book, take a class, etc.

Use a Journal:

My journal lets me put my fears, frustrations or joy on paper and writing it out lets it leave my head and gain perspective.  I find that when I am having a bad day, feel tapped out or faced too much rejection, by writing in my journal I can reset and readjust. In writing, often a plan of action will come to me and I get recharged thinking about it and feel great and ready to go again. Seeing a short list of goals I want to do in the next week or month can help me re-energize my plan.

Others may prefer speaking with their significant other or BFF but I find that just
writing it all out allows my mind to come up with solutions. A journal can help
you change your attitude in minutes.

Sleep is Not Overrated:

People constantly tell me they do not know how I get all that I do done and assume I do not sleep. If I become sleep deprived, I do wear down and can doubt myself. Our body recharges at night and it is critical to get enough sleep. So plan out your days and be sure to give yourself some time to unwind and relax so your
sleeping hours truly recharge you.

Stop and Take Stock:

A good time to review what you’ve accomplished can be at the end of any given month or the end of a quarter. Life is full of detours and taking stock will allow you to change your plan as life unfolds.

Measure what you’ve done. Don’t beat yourself up if you missed your goals but think about what would work to help keep you on track for the next month or quarter.
Treat each and every day as a gift and remember…today is the first day of the rest of your life!! Make it matter!