Want to get going?
Start with all the positives regarding your performance last year, the notable achievements. Ask the question:
Yes, I did this well, but what could I have done differently or better? Smugness gets you nowhere. Build on your successes and set new targets to improve on these successes.
The flip side of the coin is to be brutally honest with yourself and ask yourself questions about your spectacular failures – those things that caused you to have sleepless nights even during your holiday.
The worst you can do is to sweep them under the carpet and hope they will simply go away – the only true solution is to face up to them and take responsibility.
If you are an executive who now knows what to do – start doing it. If you do not know how to rectify a failure, a very open and honest discussion with your line manager is a good start.
Don’t be averse to speaking to a confidant in the workplace, your ‘buddy’ could be sourced for some ideas.
Revisit the things you didn’t do last year
They, too, will not go away – work through your backlog. A good starting point is to clear the backlog – procrastinating in this matter will remain a heavy millstone around your neck and hamper you from getting out of the blocks – clear the deck, even if it is a mundane task.
What do you spend your time on? The tug of war between the urgent and the important – are you spending too much time on strategy or too much time in meetings and planning rather than on implementing? Senior executives are especially prone to this. Success is only achieved by implementing a well-discussed idea.
De-clutter your mind
What state are you in are mentally? We all think of cleaning up just our physical environment, but what about that which is clogging up your ability to think ‘straight’? Tomorrow morning get up early and sit or walk outside with your thoughts, and decide what the rest of your life is going to be – take control of yourself as a human being! Then think of who else is part of your being – you are not an island.
Make 2015 your year!