What do most people do around this time of the year? Why, make resolutions, of course!
Lose more weight, get in shape, quit smoking, and quit (or cut down on) drinking alcohol are common ones.
Those same ‘most people’ soon forget about these resolutions until the following year when they ‘try again.’ Year after year their ‘resolutions’ rarely stick long-term.
Why is this?
Part of the problem is that ‘most people’ only take time to reflect on the past and plan for their future once a year: around new years. This is a costly mistake.
If you want to be more productive, successful, and happy, you need to schedule time to do this throughout the year.
Some call this the ‘weekly review.’ It’s what most people do typically at this time of the year: reflect on the period of time since you last did the review and make adjustments to your strategies to be more effective in the future.
If you can’t seem to find even one hour per week, try once a month or at least once a quarter.
You have to schedule time at regular intervals to reflect on your goals in relation to the past and future. Doing it once a year won’t cut it, especially at first.
In my style of karate (Wado-Ryu), when you’re a white belt (anybody who has never taken karate is a white belt), provided Sensei says you’re ready, you get tested at regular intervals thusly:
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after 3 months, gold belt
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3 more months, orange belt
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4 more months, blue belt
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4 more months, purple belt
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5 more months, green belt
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5 more months, brown belt (level 1)
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6 more months, brown belt (level 2)
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6 more months, brown belt (level 3)
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12 more months, black belt (1st degree)
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30 more months, black belt (2nd degree)
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36 more months, black belt (3rd degree)
Notice over time you get tested less and less often. That’s because it is assumed that your proficiency improves over time and you know how to practice and you will practice on your own.
Over time your proficiency and success with your regular reviews will improve and you may be able to extend the time between reviews, but probably not as much as the karate illustration above.
It’s easy when you have a Sensei (teacher) because he does the thinking for you. He will tell you when you’re ready.
When you don’t have a Sensei or coach, you have to do it all yourself. The only way to guarantee that you will consistently stop to do your own thinking about where you are in relation to your goals, projects, and intentions, is to schedule it on your calendar and treat it like it’s just as important as an appointment with any other very important person.
If Sunday afternoon works best for you, schedule a recurring 2-hour block of time then with a reminder. For some people, Friday afternoon is best.
I understand if you’re working 3 jobs just to survive. But even if you are, you should be able to find one 2-hour block of time per month or quarter at least.
Find what works best for you and schedule it. If you don’t, you’ll end up like ‘most people’ and procrastinate yet another year before you try in vain one more time.