If you want to stop drifting you are going to have to do something different, right?
If you keep doing the same thing that you have been doing over and over – you are going to continue to drift.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results – Albert Einstein
Here is my 5 steps on how I stopped The Drift and started on my journey to living intentionally – creating and redesigning my life
1. Evaluate
Evaluate where you are at. Sit down and really think about right now.
- What areas of your life need work?
- What would you like to change if you could?
- What are your current priorities – in reality? This was an interesting question for me because I thought I had my priorities in order but when I Evaluated how I spend my time I realised that Health and God was low on my priority list in reality.
- What do you spend your money and time on?
- Does anything have to change?
- How is your present lifestyle working for you?
- What habits are good for your success and what are not?
- Are your actions and thoughts getting you to where you would really love to be?
This step is really identifying the problem issue/s. We have to face reality in order to move forward.
No more sticking our head in the sand!
2. Focus
Focus on what is important and what needs to be changed. Now it is time to identify what is important in your life.
In step 1, you have evaluated what is not working and whether you have any flawed priorities or habits.
Now in step 2 – focus on what can you do to improve each area of your life. I picked 2 areas – Health and God. Anymore than that right now would be too much. I suggest to start small then you will gain momentum towards making this year your Best Year Ever.
I love the word Focus
It’s shinning a light on an area.
It’s picking up a magnifying glass and seeing clearly for the first time.
It’s concentrating your energies on one thing until a spark is ignited like focusing the sun through glass.
Ask yourself – what is the solution here? What do I need to do?
3. Decision
Decide that a line has been drawn in your life.
It’s time to leave the past behind and step over into your Best Year Ever.
- Decide that you are changing your priorities.
- Decide that you are setting new goals.
- Decide that you are creating a new game plan for your life.
- Decide that this is going to be your Best Year Ever.
Write this decision down. If you have never journaled before – now is a good time to start.
- Write this decision on your first page.
- Then list your new priorities. Note down what has to change for these new priorities to work.
- Think about what you would like your year to look like. Imagine that you are waking up on the 31st December and you are looking back over the year – what has happened that year that has made it the Best Year Ever? Write that down – these are your goals for the year.
Make a decision that you will work hard this year to stop the drift and accomplish some things.
4. Break it Down
In your decision time you wrote down some goals for the year – in order for any success to occur, these goals need to be broken down into small bites or action steps. I call these my Monthly Game Plan. Map out what needs to happen each month in order for your Best Year Ever to happen. These are your monthly goals. Write them in your journal. I have monthly goals for my weight loss, my Bible reading, my physical exercise and my prayer life at the moment.
5. Review
I have introduced a monthly meeting with myself where I review the month’s goals and evaluate what I have achieved. Then I set the new month’s goals and write down my new game plan. These last 2 steps are very important – without small bites/action steps – our yearly goals would be just a dream.
We want to stop dreaming and start living the dream!
I would love to hear your feedback – please comment below.
Have you taken the 5 steps or something similar in your life? What are your yearly and monthly goals right now? Let’s all support each other!
Hi Rahel. I’m enjoying reading your posts. I was wondering what your plan is for your health goals and God for that matter. I’ve got a lot of weight to lose and am struggling to do it, even though I know what it requires. God Bless ?
Hi Sandra – thanks for leaving a comment and questions. Love your feedback! This is the perfect year to lose the weight – that is what I have decided.
In a nutshell my health goals is to totally redesign my lifestyle – eating lifestyle and how I move and think. My goal is to lose 19kg this year – lost 5 so far – Yah! It’s not just about losing the weight – I need to redesign my life so that I don’t put it back on -ever!
With my eating – I am counting calories and keeping track of what I eat with MyFitnessPal app.
With moving – I am walking everyday.
With redesigning my thinking – well this is going to be a process. I am realizing that what goes on in the head really affects everything that we do. Science and the Bible have proven this. Proverbs 23:7 ” For as he thinks in his heart so is he.”
My thinking is flawed when it comes to eating too much chocolate – that is my downfall. I binge on chocolate. The thought process is usually really fast – all of a sudden I have finished a king size bar of chocolate. I have realized that my mind is telling me that I deserve it and that it will help me get through my day. It is something that I have done since I was a teenager – that’s 33 years of a bad thinking process that I have to redesign.
As for spiritual goals – I have a number that I am currently working on – one is to read through the Bible in a year. I am doing this through my YouVersion app on my tablet where you can choose different reading plans. The one I have chosen for this year is “Eat this Book:One Year Bible with Daily Psalm”. It has really benefited me more than I thought it would -love it! So in order to get this goal happening I had to redesign my daily schedule and get up 15 minutes earlier than I usually do every morning. Other spiritual goals involve – praying for my street as I walk everyday, having God filled conversations daily and completing my Precepts Isaiah study homework each week.
Sandra – I suggest you spend Easter going through the 5 Steps in this article and map out how you are going to make this year the Best Year Ever – and we can do the journey together. I will try to do a post this weekend on my favourite resources for achieving my Best Year Ever – that would give you lots of help in setting your goals and achieving them.
All the Best – you can do it.
You have what it takes.