By Michael Gidlewski

After you’ve defined what needs to happen for 2017 to be your best year ever and written out personal goals and milestones to get you there, you have to stick to the plan — and that means staying focused.

In order to develop a relentless focus on what really matters most, remind yourself constantly to dwell on what you want, not what you don’t want. Being positive will help inspire and motivate you to work hard and achieve your goals; being negative may discourage and deflate your progress.

As you forge ahead, streamline your work by taking anything that isn’t core to your goals and simplifying, eliminating, delegating, or outsourcing it. Then try to take action on your goals every single day.

A key part of maintaining a focus on attaining your best year ever is blocking out or minimizing distractions. To that end, consider going on a media fast. Turn off the TV, silence the radio, and unplug from the Internet. Trust me, you’ll live without the bad news, fear mongering, and sensationalism. Instead, infuse your life with higher-quality inputs like good books.

Ultimately, honing your focus will help restore a healthy work-life balance and free you up to “be here now.” You’ll allow your mind to settle and clear, and regularly being fully present in the moment will enrich your time, your relationships, and your life. You’ll be able to listen with empathy, think more deeply, engage authentically, and experience life fully.

That’s the kind of focus that can transform relationships and lead you to your best year ever.

Click here to read the previous post in the “Your Best Year Ever” series.

__________

Michael Gidlewski is President of West Chester-based Achievement Unlimited, as well as a growth catalyst and motivational speaker. He works with motivated business owners and entrepreneurs to clearly define the elements of what they dearly want their lives to look like, then helps them connect all the moving parts that make up those visions to consistent action and habits. Michael can be reached at 610-793-6609 or via e-mail at michael@achievable.com.