11 Small Changes to Make 2016 Awesome

Did you feel that 2015 was okay, but not quite as productive or outstanding as you’d hoped? Good news: it’s time to do it all over again!

Make this year even better than the last by changing a few habits and sticking to your guns. You’ll be amazed by the personal and professional leaps your life will take this year!

1. Play to Your Strengths
Take the time to honestly evaluate what you’re good at, personally and professionally. Did you give tennis a go and figure out you’ve got some natural ability? Start practicing! Did you find that you had a certain natural flair for talking clients through issues? Take those opportunities whenever they become available. Your confidence will soar.

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2. Focus on Impact
This is your year to throw out blindly completing tasks. Even the smallest of work assignments or personal choices will have an impact on someone else. Let that motivate you and watch the quality of your work fly.

3. Get LinkedIn
It’s time. LinkedIn isn’t just useful for those on a job hunt. Having a record of all that you do in the professional world and networking with like-minded people has never been easier.

4. Look to Your Champions
You’ve heard it before for a reason: keep not just your friends, but your mentors and positive influences close. They’ll not only inspire you to keep working through hard times, you’ll also have a never-ending source of support to help you celebrate the wins.

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5. Buy an Awesome Mattress
No one wants to spend money needlessly. It’s a struggle out there. But you (hopefully) spend at least 7 hours a night in your bed. You’ll be so much more refreshed if you’re getting a decent night’s sleep. While you’re at it. Start making the bed. There’s nothing better than coming home to a fresh space to sleep in. Mindframe changed.

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6. Remember People’s Names
This really matters. If it’s not an instinctual thing for you, when you first meet someone, make every effort to repeat the name somewhere in conversation. Calling someone by their name via text, e-mail, and in a dialogue automatically makes other people feel valued. It will also help you remember other things about them that will be useful in whatever dialogue you’re engaged in.

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7. Travel
So this is on everyone’s bucket lists, but rarely makes their New Year’s Resolutions. Why? We think we have all the time in the world to do it. And we don’t. Travel expands your perspective and helps you empathise with others, because now you’ve got a broader schema to work with. Plus it’s darn fun. It doesn’t have to be trans-atlantic. Take a daytrip over into the next state or province. You’ll be surprised at the difference.

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8. You Are Only the Center of Your Universe
My brother has this really annoying phrase that he chants any time I’m ranting about being inconvenienced, “the world revolves around you, Sam!” And my brother’s not really a wise guy, but his sarcasm is important here. Our worlds revolve around us, because it’s all we really know. But everybody has their own agenda and that’s okay. When agendas align, awesome, we’ll work together and both benefit. But when they don’t, we can still benefit, because what’s a big deal to us isn’t going to be remembered by anyone else tomorrow.

9. Keep Reminders
I’m really busy. And I’ve started keeping an agenda that outlines where I’ve got to be and when with two lines at the top: Today’s Goal is To and Reminder. Daily goals are covered on every resolution list, so I’ll let you figure that one out. But the “reminder” is a short statement about being grateful for something specific that happened the day before. It can be work goals met, friends gained, corny jokes learned, or incredible skylines witnessed. Puts things in perspective.

10. Stop Competing With Others
Just stop it. Comparisons are great; they inspire us and influence our decisions. But competition comes with value judgments that are literally useless to everyone. You are more than a demographic and so is your “competition.” Compare to see what you can bring to the table that no one else can and compare to appreciate what someone else can bring to the table that you can’t. But don’t value it.

11. Love
It’s corny as all hell to end with this one, but we have a finite amount of time to exist and if you spend that time motivated by loving people, places, ideas, and experiences everything you do will have a greater impact. Which is the whole idea. This isn’t about romantic love. Love is about investment. Invest in what you’re drawn to and watch it grow.

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Happy New Year. Make this the best one yet.