Here we are, January 5, and 5 days into our new chapter. I was about to write that we have 360 days left before we can assess how 2020 was for us, but more on that in a bit. I figure we have until midnight 31 December to achieve any goals set for this year. Sure, for some, the reality of success will have significantly diminished by then but if one of our goals was to tell someone the truth, or that we love them, or to act on something we didn’t want to have regrets about, then this could be easily achieved at 1 minute to midnight on the 31st. Goal ticked!
I have a sticky note with a quote on my study wall. ‘We never give up no matter what the score, we just keep going’. I love this and am a firm believer of persistence. I am also aware that I only have control over ME and MY actions (and reactions). To use one of Ben’s passions, if I play football and have a goal to score 3 tries and I achieve it, this is great! Actually, I would be a bit of a superstar lol, but if the other team scores 4 tries and we lose, do I still feel great? Or what if the other team forfeits and there is no game at all. How can I achieve my goal?
The universe has a way of giving us opportunities to be grateful, encouraging us to live in the moment and presenting obstacles to remind us to breath and keep focus on the things we CAN control.
The Pareto Principal (named after Italian economist in the 1800’s) or the 80 / 20 rule is based on cause and effect. Pareto observed that 80% of his peas came from 20% of his plants and realised that this 80 / 20 principal applied to nearly every area of life.
If 80% of our results will come in in the last 20% of our time, we can’t really judge until the time is up. It would also make sense to focus on the 20% of things in our life that will generate the 80% of results.
How’s this for a true story example. A man sets a goal of buying his dream home. He finds the house he wants to buy and sends out 300 printed invitations to a housewarming, exactly one year from the day. A few months later he approaches the bank. They tell him he is an independent business person and technically has ‘no job’ so they won’t lend him the money. The man gets to 6 months and still hasn’t got enough. 8 months, 9 months, 10 months and in the 11th month he buys his dream home. Exactly 1 year from the date of the invitation, the people show up for his housewarming.
Sometimes I think we need to set some crazy, ridiculous and insane kinds of goals to keep us excited. It keeps us thinking big, dreaming big and gives us the chance to succeed at a higher level. I would rather aim high and miss, than aim low and never know how much further along I could be or worse, never know what I could have achieved if I had have just gotten started.
We all have the same 24 hours in our day and perhaps the importance of finding purpose and living life deliberately is that when our life time is up, we will be remembered for the impact we made and the legacy we left behind. We already know this to be true through the stories of Ben and his example.
So, this brings me back to my original point. Not only is 2020 going to be a fantastic year, and if you choose it to be, YOUR MOST AMAZING year yet, but we have 361 days left not 360. We have been given extra time, a full 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86,400 extra seconds on February 29. This means one more day to achieve our goals.
Who else is silently saying the rhyme ’30 days has September, April, June and November ….’ just to make sure – I admit I did 😊
We so often say ‘I need more time’, ‘Time goes so fast’, ‘I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day’. Well this year you have an extra day. The question is what will you do with it? How will you make it count? Will it just be absorbed into the rest of your month? or will you make it worthwhile?
This is your challenge … and your choice.
Much Love
Dalya xx 💙