If you are reading this article, you are alive and have been gifted another year to start anew.

Let us welcome 2023 in all its grandeur, anticipating growth and personal transformation whilst touching people’s lives. There is something profound and magical that happens as one celebrates the transition of time, be it one’s own birthday or a new year’s eve, as it inspires most to commit, make resolutions and act on them.

It’s in humility that we can accept that “who we are has created the life we have, and it’s not the other way around”; so, to start afresh, one should start by taking responsibility in totality for where we are and make mindful changes for the better.

You have to believe that there is more in you, so let’s not settle for anything but the best of what we can be, by simply allowing ourselves to ask these questions to know better…

Are you all that you can be?
What would your ideal life look like?
What do you believe is missing?
Would you be willing to change?
What kind of woman/ man would have your ideal life?
What are you willing to sacrifice to get there?
What would it take to honor your commitment to self?
What is the help that you need to facilitate the transformation?

As told to us by our elders: “If you have not written it down, you are not likely to get it done”.

I encourage you to spend the first week of the year answering each one of the above questions in as much detail as you possibly can, for to write you will need to first articulate your thoughts, find words that express it, and you will discover that words don’t come easy. You will surely find this experience insightful and therapeutic, whilst getting clarity on what needs to be done and the first step that you will need to take.

The first step that you might want to consider would be to recalibrate expectations from self and others, for it’s possible that we have in the past set ourselves up for failure. Whilst focused on our dreams, no matter how silly and embarrassing they might seem, simply lower the bar to the level attainable so you cannot fail and let it match the effort you are willing to put in. You will find encouragement with each win, as it’s a goal that’s mindfully set and accomplished by choice; remember that the mind acknowledges the win and does not differentiate the big from the small. Winning ways reinforce our will and grit to try and endure with time, and whilst at it, embrace the outcome and better it with time. Even in the failures is a win for you have shifted forward the starting point for you know better now and with every try you setting up to win.

A skill you might want to inculcate to facilitate and complement your transition would be to journal; simply write down all that needs to get done that day and strike things off when done. This will require discipline and intent, and it will build character with time. It’s not enough for us to know our accomplishments but also to know what remains to be done, and in time you will get better at managing your time, planning better and feeling accomplished. It’s a system of conscientiousness that encourages accountability and a commitment to self.

If there is anyone who can alter your life experience it has to be you; this journey of self-discovery will need all of you but stay on it for you will love the new you. If you are in doubt, de-motivated or lack clarity, seek help, for only winners do. Look around and you will find that most successful individuals owe it to their life coaches, mentors etc., not because they were not capable, but were able to discover a part of them that they did not know about. So, choose winning ways.

I leave you with a quote by Abraham Lincon who stated: “The best way to predict your future is to create it”.

Ajith Anirudhan
“THE LISTENER”
Life Empowerment Coach| Public Speaker
ACC™ | CCA – International Coaching Federation (USA)