My recommendations for making 2016 insanely successful.

We all make new years resolutions but frequently we wind up abandoning them. So make a list of what you want to accomplish. I carry around with me a notebook that I am constantly writing in. 20160101_130500What is my top piece of advice. Carry a notebook around and write out every idea you have, big and small.

My notebook includes: 1) check list of things I need to get done either today or in the future.

2) charts to measure the importance of something or the risk of taking an action.

3) Random mind maps. When I get an idea and I can’t quite nail it down, I normally start with a mind map and let things flow where they may.

4) Big ideas and bold steps. I try to always have at least three bold things I want to do listed.  I then break down by big ideas and bold steps into manageable chunks and make a check list of what I want to accomplish every day to turn my big ideas into reality.

5) Doodles of where I am today, and where I want to be in one year. I go back and redoodle this frequently in order to ingrain the goal into my mind.

6) Blog posts and ideas. Okay, I’m old school, I still hand write my blog post before sitting down at the computer. Its much more relaxing to be sitting in a comfortable chair writing then sitting at the computer writing. 20160101_131840Besides, some of the writing techniques I use don’t adapt to the computer very well. When writing I frequently go off on a tangent (that’s my ADD) hey, shinny thing. Well, tangents frequently lead to big ideas that take the initial form of a mind map. The other real big reason I start with pencil and paper is my dyslexia.  When writing on the computer all my misspelled words wind up having squiggly red underlining and my OCD makes me fix that before moving on.  That breaks my chain of thought. The only way I’ll get the squiggly red underline on paper is if I pick up a red pen and put it there myself.

7) Nudges. It’s hard to turn a battleship around, it’s much easier to make small corrections.  When I learn of my mistakes, (and I sure make quite a few) I write out the mistake and analysis of the mistake.  I then come up with a series of nudges to correct my mistakes and improve my overall life.

8) The to-be list. Really this is my list of what I am going to do to relax and enjoy my life. Spend a day working in the garden with Candy, Tea with Martin and the Queen, polish the plane. Sit on the beach and and listen for this hiss when the sun goes down and touches the ocean.

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