January 2022: Starting Your Year off the Right Way
“Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.”
-James Clear
In December, we talked about enjoying a break over the holidays and reflecting on systems that worked for us last year and areas in which we can improve on for the new one. For 2022, what new habits can we implement to maximize our potential this year? Good habits mean making the most of your time while bad ones tend to be a waste. January is the perfect time to get started because we usually have a nice break around the holiday because lets face it, there’s not much else to do. Atomic Habits by James Clear is great first book of the year and here are my main takeaways from it.
Check it out here: https://amzn.to/3GFP6IS
Never Miss Twice
“If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection.”
-James Clear
What separates professionals from amateur’s isn’t practicing something when you feel like it, it’s showing up when you don’t. You have the capability of becoming highly proficient at anything if you allocate a small amount of time and do it every single day. I’m very schedule oriented and if I follow my daily routine consistently, then I know I’m going to be making the best use of my time and take the steps necessary to devote to the goals I’ve set for the year. The hardest part to a streak is getting started and once you get a couple of weeks under your belt, it’s much easier to keep it going. Sure, things will come up and we’ll miss days here and there but whenever I do, I have to remind myself to never miss twice!
Systems in Place
“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.”
2022 Systems
Stop Working on Something Before I Burn Out: If you stop for the day right when you hit the wall or abide by your schedule to end a session when you’re supposed to, you’ll go into it the next day knowing that you only have a certain amount of time and you’re window will be more productive.
Read 24 books this year – 2 per month. 1 Self Help and 1 for pleasure. Read for an hour every night before bed instead of watching TV. I feel like I sleep better and have more interesting topics to discuss or think about.
Spend less time on social media: It’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole. The only surefire way to spend less time is to delete the apps off of your phone and keep them on your ipad or a device that you spend less time on. Work in progress.
Journal for 10 minutes every morning: This is great for consistent writing but also getting my thoughts out there before getting the day started. Therapeutic.
Dry January: This is my 3rd year doing it and my favorite thing about it is the deep sleep. I haven’t made it the whole month in previous years but have a good shot at going this distance this time!
2022 Vacations: Make a list of everywhere you’d like to go this year and what month would be ideal so that you’re planning far enough in advance to get to make it happen!.
Put your phone away for periods at a time: Whenever I’m on a roll, I can easily get distracted by my phone and lose focus. I try and do 30 minute blocks where I put it on the other side of the room and then I can get some solid work done.
What are some of your 2022 “systems” that you would like to implement this year? Please feel free to send them my way!