Make 2016 your best year yet!
Because if not now, when?
Is it a bitter cocktail that you will be downing this new year's eve?
While everyone else seems happy to celebrate a year well lived (why else would anyone celebrate the end of another year of their lives?), are you not looking forward to pop the champagne because what does that even mean? A repeat of the same old, same old all over again?!! Is that all there is?!! Nothing much to savour and to reminisce; to be happy for and be proud of?
No one enjoys running on the same spot. It wears you out without you progressing. Even if one isn't ambitious, one needs a change of scenery to feel refreshed. After all, we're looking at a time frame of a lifetime.
The longer you postpone your future, the shorter it will be. Inertia and procrastination will keep you in a lousy place far longer than is necessary. And if you wait for the stars to align, you'd be waiting forever.
Don't believe your excuses
“But I’m not confident”, “I don’t have enough money”, “My idea is not good enough”, “There's no one to help me', “I need more time to plan because I could potentially lose a lot if I fail”.
They're all legitimate reasons, right?
No, they are all excuses.
We give ourselves excuses when we are lazy; we want to protect ourselves; we face obstacles; we're scared.
Hence, we:
try to stay the same to protect what we have; spare us the extra effort; or
build a safety net for ourselves
Problem is, all these then become distractions – instead of directing our efforts toward creating the new life that we want, we spend time and effort maintaining the status quo or building the safety net.
If you really want something, you'd find ways. Otherwise, you'd find excuses.
Your idea/ plan doesn't have to be right or perfect immediately. You just need to start.
Succeed or die trying
And please do not attempt to do it half-heartedly in the hope that the damage and disappointment would be halved too.
A half-hearted effort could be worst than not trying at all because it most certainly won’t yield success but it ended up convincing you that it is not worth risking everything for it afterall - it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Of course you will fear when stepping into the unknown. Acknowledge your fear. But don’t let it stop you from pursuing what you think is worth risking for. Courage isn’t the absence of fear – it is doing something despite knowing that you might fail…and perhaps fail miserably.
But you know what success is? Success is falling down 7 times and getting up 8.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Now, raise your glass.
