A frequent phrase I hear from so many people today is “I can’t wait for 2021.”  It is almost automatic for many people as they come to the end of December each year, as we all probably remember hearing/saying this at the end of every year.   No one can disagree with wanting to look forward to a better future, no matter when or where you are.  A positive outlook as we enter a New Year is common as we somehow associate the New Year with a chance at a “fresh start”, a “turning of the page” to create something better. I suggest that attitude ought to be taken each and every day of our lives, as today is the first day of the rest of your life.  After today, tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of your life.  Choose to make each and every one great!  As it is each great day that makes a great week and makes a great month and, in the aggregate, makes a great year.

Getting back to the “New Year,” the decision to make 2021 a great year is important if you are planning on improving your circumstances, and thus, your life.  Who isn’t?  Especially as we look back specifically at 2020, very few will come out of it with fond memories as for most, we just suffered through one of the greatest disruptions in our lives.  To put the pandemic and its massive “side effects” in a rear-view mirror is a wish for most as so many have paid health, economic, emotional, isolation and other prices throughout 2020.  The outlook as projected by most experts is that we will get beyond it at some point in 2021.  The problem, however, with us expecting things to be better in 2021 is exactly that:  it is only an “expectation.”  Expectations clearly don’t make it one’s reality…they merely are wishful thinking that are based on some assumptions that may or may not be true .

What is it then that we should be working on?  Well, we know that “failure to plan is a plan to fail.”  So, evaluating where you are, where you want to be on December 31, 2021, is a project that we all should be working on if not already completed.  This planning involves many steps not the subject of this article as there is a prolific amount of quality materials written about annual business/personal planning.  After setting the year-end goals, breaking it down either in monthly or even smaller bite size activities/goals such as daily/weekly is a great exercise.   Another action step is to share our plans with those who perhaps intimidate us a bit, who have accomplished what we might be choosing as our goals for our life.  My experience is that the majority of people never even seek to solicit good advice…sad but true.  Why is it we cannot see that successful people have something to offer us?  The more valuable input that you get before you start the year/project/plan, the greater results you will achieve.   This is not to say that throughout the year, your “go to” advisors shouldn’t be used from time to time as well, to support you staying the course.  But starting the year off “on the right track” avoids a lot of hardships along the way.

Even with all the best plans and action steps, the main ingredient to success including specifically for 2021 the underlying need to overcome the impact that 2020 might have had on you, is still missing.  To accomplish something different is not just working on it, rather it is truly “choosing it.”  The word “choice” has to do with the most important element to success:  mindset.  What you think matters as it forms the basis of who you will become and what you will accomplish.  “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”  Proverbs 23:7.   So, how is it that you control that mind of yours?  Start with changing your thinking on accomplishing a goal to be one of “no matter what” as it is a winning strategy.  Put the stake in the ground as if there is no other result that you will accept.  This is where you can look back at one of the most famous quotes about our mind:  “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re right.”  Henry Ford.

Choose to tackle 2021 with a renewed zest, energy perhaps you have not exhibited before or at best in a long time.  Get rid of excuses as 2020 has allowed so many to accept them as just common sense.  They are anything but common sense…rather traps for your mind to justify happenings, leave behind everything you want in life.  Get grounded in exactly what you want.  Even better, let go of the word “want” and instead, use what you are committed to creating in 2021.  Develop a plan and definitely commit to collaborating with others with greater knowledge and greater experience than you have.  And finally, adopt an unstoppable attitude, committing to create the results you set your mind to “NO MATTER WHAT.”

Recognizing that your mind is truly one of your greatest assets requires those of us committed to living life responsibly to use it properly.  Shut down the negative thinking as you take charge of what anything and everything means.  And as Napoleon Hill tells us, “If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.”