99 Days to Christmas 2015…and Counting!

Yes, it’s under 100 days till Christmas. That’s not said to inspire panic or dread, but it does pose the perfect opportunity to ask some questions of yourself, and plan ahead to create not just the Christmas you want, but the life you want! Over the next few weeks we’ll look at all the pieces of the puzzle to help you plan ahead for success: self, family, work, play, home and the new year…

To get started, this week, it’s all about you!

6 questions to ask yourself this week:

1. What do you want to achieve personally and professionally before Christmas arrives on your doorstep this year? What or who may get in your way? Let’s look at developing a strategy to manage this. Get clarity around what this exactly means for you. A great way to do this is to describe it in such a way that a 7-year-old could recognise that it is yours – use the 5W’s +1H to describe what you want to achieve and apply this guideline to each of the questions that follow as well. (I have done this here as well in order to show you how it can work.) When it comes to who or what could get in the way, this may mean a person either at home or at work; up line or down line, or it could be some ‘thing’ like a lack of resources, finance, time, or access to a mentor who could help leverage you on to where you want to be. Be thinking what you can do to achieve what you need, and remember, you can only change that which you have influence over….so if you don’t have influence over what you need, then who does, and how are you going to ‘sell’ them your story and purpose so they feel motivated to help get you there?
2. Why is this important to you? (This is what drives you to achieve it.) This is about your core drivers or values, so be clear about what is non-negotiable for you about getting what you want. You might also want to watch the excellent TED Talk by Simon Sinek: ‘Start with Why?‘ or refer to his website.
3. When exactly do you want/need to complete/achieve this? Is it a week before Christmas or by Christmas Eve?! This one always rings home to me: I have two sons and when they were about 14 or 15 I learnt a big lesson on being exact with my requests! They each had jobs to do around the house and my eldest was on vacuuming and the understanding I had was that all jobs be done by dinner time so we could each do our own thing and relax or do what we wanted in the evening. One evening as we were about to sit down for dinner, I realised my son hadn’t vacuumed, so I challenged him on it. His response was: “Well you told me to have it done by the evening – that means any time before midnight!” I have to admit, I still fall in to this trap, but it always makes me smile when I do, because it reminds me that people aren’t mind readers and we need to communicate our expectations clearly and exactly to all concerned. Make sure you do!
4. Where do you see yourself in 12 months’ time? What do you need to set up before Christmas to get this going for your return in the New Year? Begin with the end in mind: and this ‘end’ is Christmas/summer 2015, so describe the picture so anyone can understand, appreciate and recognise it as being the goal you want.
5. Who can best help you get where you want to be? What are your expectations of them? This links back to the first point; ‘TEAM’ Together Everyone Achieves More; an oldie and a goodie. It is often easier to tap into others for help, support, advice, guidance and resources than it is to travel the road alone so engage and get people on board to give you a hand to get you where you want to be.
6. How are you going to do this? Make a plan! Start with the end in mind and work back in realistic, bite-sized pieces/chunks. A horse trainer once said to me as I was working with my horse: “Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.” Great advice! Reward your steps of achievement along the way and celebrate with your family/friends/co-workers when you achieve what you set out to do.

Finally: Make sure you have FUN doing it and be sure to communicate well to all those involved along the way!

Next week we’ll turn our focus to ‘family’ with 5 questions to ask so you’re not scrapping over the Christmas BBQ!

Of course, if you’d like a helping hand to get you on track and keep you there, Out of the Rut can help!

~ Jane