9 powerful and impactful actions to take in the first 9 days of a new year
“Simplicity changes behaviour…If a behaviour frustrated you, it will not become a habit.”
BJ Fogg
2021, wild year right?
Hundreds of reasons and excuses not to achieve what you wanted or to make some of the changes that you want.
Well, I hope you are tired of hearing about this year being THE reason why something didn’t happen.
No matter how challenging this year has been, in almost all cases, it is not really the reason for falling short. We are the reason for not making changes! And when we accept that, amazing things can happen.
Accept this year for whatever it has brought you, be grateful for whatever you have achieved and be thankful for the lessons you have learnt throughout the challenges it presented.
If you want to make progress and change...THAT is your motivation. If progress doesn't motivate you, then find something else that does.
HABITS ARE EVERYTHING
Let’s get moving towards 2021 being a different story and let's start creating the habits to get you there with 9 powerful and impactful actions you can take in the first 9 days of 2021.
Well first things first, it is a common belief to think that it takes 21 days to form a habit. It doesn’t! Don’t forget habits form when Prompt + Ability + Motivation all come together. So if you have those 3 elements it is really easy to form a new habit or behaviour. Check out this article about behavioural scientist BJ Fogg explaining habits.
Habits are crucial because they are the foundation for any actions you take in your life and your actions will lead to the results, which shapes the very life you live or want. So with that in mind, having the right habits is a catalyst to making changes in your life.
Same habits = same results. New powerful habits = different powerful results.
One of my biggest tips to you is to take your time and build these habits slowly and with small steps, this is not about trying to change everything and do it all at once, because chances are, you will run into roadblocks and the more roadblocks you run into the more likely it is that you will just give up.
You want to have ongoing prompts to remind yourself of the habit, the required skill to attempt and ideally complete the habit and a powerful reason why to keep your motivation high. Don’t forget Prompt + Ability + Motivation together.
PREPARATION is key
Before 1 January 2021 please buy yourself a journal with no lines. Nothing expensive but something that you enjoy writing in and a pen that feels good to write with.
Now that you’ve got your journal, let’s begin:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"
Chinese proverb. Chapter 64 of the Dao De Jing ascribed to Laozi
9 POWERFUL AND IMPACTFUL ACTIONS
1. Give into the power of clarity
In your new journal, do the following each morning. This is my version of morning pagers which is a simple and raw way to start the day. In essence it is about seeing where the mind takes you...so:
Get comfortable, anywhere that suits.
Avoid distraction, do it first thing in the morning.*
Start journaling your thoughts. Text or even pictures.
Write longhand. Don’t try and cut the process short, let it flow.
Be authentic with where your mind is.
* Why the morning? Because it is when the mind is the freshest, free of clutter and enables you to set your intentions for the day.
Explore these 3 topics and write down your answers:
What values do you want to live by and how do you want to represent yourself each day? What will lead you to living your authentic and most fulfilling self? e.g. you might want to live with passion, conviction, love and gratitude.
What makes you great? I want you to be really clear what your special attributes are, so we can amplify them! Write down 1 each day for the next 9 days. Celebrate these and ponder how you can use this more often in your life.
What do you want to do this year? What is the big overarching goal this year that will give you fulfilment at the end of 2021 when (not if) you achieve it?
2. Thrive – Survive – Crash Dive
This exercise to be done over the 9 days is something I love doing with my clients, it’s the TSC exercise.
Take note in your journal what you do each day and where it fits into the following categories Thrive – Survive – Crash Dive
Thrive: Actions/habits that you love, you get excited doing, they feel like they are part of your best self and give you fuel for some of the other things in life.
Survive: These are essential to your life and you cannot live without them. They might not make you thrive all the time but they cannot be ignored.
Crash Dive: When you do these actions or habits you feel horrible, it takes valuable time away from Thriving habits/actions. You must remove them from your life. This could include time with toxic people, late eating, too much TV binging…
In this exercise we are searching for clarity and a deep realisation of what takes up the time in your days and what needs to be amplified or removed. If you can find 3 or 4 things that are “must gos” and it frees up extra time for good stuff then…YOU’RE WINNING!
3. Smash the roadblocks
Part of your morning routine is about finding and amplifying positivity in your life and developing the values you want to live by...but we all must admit that at times there can be negative forces at play in our lives and it's not as simple as blinking them away.
Recognise it, own it, then be done with it.
This exercise will help with clarity but in the end it’s your choice to make the change:
Each day over 9 days:
Explore and write down the patterns of behaviour that exist right now e.g.actions, habits, style of language.
Now spend time to reflect on those behaviours. Which ones you want to delete and why this is important? This will enable your brain to rewire the thought pattern away from doing these things. It is important to have a powerful reason why you want to make the change.
Is this for your family? For a better you? What is the driving force? What can you really believe in when the urge to do it again happens? What is an emotional anchor you can use?Also important to note, this is not a battle of your ego looking to win and make these changes. This is about you wanting to see what it is, recognise it for what it actually is and finally letting go.
4. Find a reason to change
There is so much good around us and sometimes we just miss it.
Each day before you go to bed, spend 5 minutes doing the below:
Find Gratitude - Love: this is a powerful exercise, keep calling out in your journal the amazing stuff you are doing and what or who you are grateful for!
Write 2 things each day that you are great at, which are what we need to amplify.
5. Find extra time
Question 1: If you had an extra hour in the day to 100% dedicate to improving your life, would it be worth it?
So far we have looked at things that make us crash dive that should be removed from our lives and also what patterns of behaviour might be holding us back. Getting rid of these will give you time and emotional energy to focus on other positive habits to build. However here is a cheeky little trick to get an hour back each day.
Question 2: Are you saying “HELL NO, THIS TIME IS FOR ME” when your mind says “push snooze” on the phone?
To take back time for something important, it’s about prioritising it:
Each day for the next 8 days getup 5min earlier than usual in the morning. Each day, add 5min to it. Then on day number 9 when you are in the routine and feeling good about it, add another 20min earlier. BOOM, you now have an extra hour in the day!
Now don’t be surprised if you need to trim a little something off the night time routine to get up refreshed. It might be less Netflix, social media or even 1 less episode of Home Flippers.
Now it might be tough...but remember you now have 60min to focus on you, which can be used to focus on new powerful habits to adopt in your life.
6. Exercise tiny powerful habits
This one is all about creating a list of 10 additional powerful habits that you can implement after these 9 days are finished for the next 10 weeks of 2021.
Here is what you do:
Create a list of 5 easy tiny habits, 3 medium and 2 hard habits that will help you achieve your goals for 2021. The habit might be going for a walk, reading a book, drinking less alcohol or something difficult like booking that seminar to learn more about your passion project.
Once the list is complete then each week add in an additional habit to your routine until the 10 weeks are up. BANG you have 10 more powerful and impactful habits in your life to lead you to success.
7. Create a finish line
Ok who has the habit of procrastination? Put it off till later! “Meh, I’ll do that later, I got plenty of time.”
If this is you, check out this Ted Talk about the procrastination monkey in all of us.
Well… no more! 2021 is the year to set a deadline on the things that matter most to you that relate to living your best life.
If it’s a fitness goal...set a deadline to get started and then a deadline to achieve the specific goal.
If it’s change related to a relationship...then set yourself a goal to find resolution one way or another.
If this year is the year to find a new job, then set a deadline to know where the job will be, in what field and who you need to speak with to get you on track.
You see, some things are not guaranteed but you can set yourself a deadline to get everything in place and ready for the universe to do its thing.
Here’s a hot bonus tip. When creating your daily action plan with deadlines, ensure that it is not just simple tasks, it needs to include priorities for your life. Then you don’t just get stuck doing things for other people.
8. Do something challenging, that scares but also excites you
Often we don’t take the opportunity to make change because we are just scared.
Scared of:
Failure,
Other people's opinions (read my blog to find out if you’ve got FOPO?)
Succeeding
The unknown
So each day for the next 9 days, I want you to begin doing things that scare and challenge you...BUT EXCITE YOU.
Just decide it and then begin the smallest, most initial step towards achieving it.
For example, you really want to lose weight but are scared of the process.
Smallest first step...go for a 10 minute walk around your block today, then 2 blocks tomorrow...then build from there. Don’t overthink it, in fact walk towards it.
9. Celebrate your success, love YOU
Here's the easiest one of the nine but the most important. Show some love to YOURSELF.
Celebrate each of the steps forward you make, even the smallest ones.
In fact, even when you feel like you have not improved but realised what went wrong, celebrate that because you now have better clarity on the process you are undertaking...which is a win and a step closer to success.
Then finally, turn to the last page of your journal and write yourself a gratitude letter.
Answer the following questions:
What most excites you about where you are now?
What do you love about yourself?
What do you enjoy about being in your own company?
What is your super strength?
Followed by an actual gratitude note… A message to you to say thanks and well done on where you are at right now and the progress you have made over the last 9 days. Just write, see where it takes you.
You have the power in you to do amazing things, you have the ability to do more than you think.
Good luck with the 9 days of action to start 2021.
