Three Steps For Creating A Happy New Year

Three Steps For Creating A Happy New Year

In this first post of the year, I’d like to share three simple but powerful steps you can use to make 2014 a truly happy and prosperous new year.

Step 1: Don’t Carry Old Thoughts Into The New Year One of biggest problems that holds people back from achieving their most important goals in life is the burden of negative thought. As we move through life each of us is faced with disappointments, negative experiences and failures. However, it’s important to realise that you have the choice to either carry these negative experiences with you, or learn from them and move on. Imagine for a moment that you are pulling a sled and each time you experience a negative situation, you load it onto your sled and carry it with you in the form of negative thought. Over time, the weight of these negative thoughts will increase and eventually it will prevent you from moving forward with your life.

The New Year is a great opportunity to make the decision to unstrap yourself from your burden, let go of your negative thoughts and leave them where they belong – in the past.

Step 2: Set Your Imagination Free Once you have made the decision to let go of the negative thoughts of the past, the next step to creating a truly happy New Year is to give yourself permission to set your imagination free and visualise your ideal future. “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” – Ben Stein A great way to do this is to close your eyes and project yourself five years into the future and imagine what your life would look like if it was perfect in every way. Think about your… Health: imagine your body being fit, strong and healthy. Relationships: imagine being surrounded by love, laughter and happiness. Financial Situation: imagine being financially secure and doing work you love. Personal Fulfillment: imagine enjoying the hobbies and pastimes you’ve always wanted to pursue. Contribution: imagine giving back, and making a positive contribution to the world around you. A lot of people are reluctant to actually visualize their perfect future because deep down they believe that things never work out perfectly, and they don’t want to imagine their ideal life only to be disappointed by reality. However, olympic athletes, and high achievers in every arena are those who “Dare To Dream” and give themselves permission to imagine and explore their ideal future. The fact is that even if things don’t work out exactly as you imagine, you will still be moving towards your ideal outcome, and will make MUCH more progress than those who never allow themselves to set their imaginations free. As you think about, see and experience your ideal future in your mind’s eye, you will gradually develop a sense of clarity and belief that will compel you to take action. Which brings us to the third step to creating a Happy New Year… Step 3: Schedule Daily Action Having freed yourself from the burden of negative thought, and clarified your vision of the future you want to create, the third step to creating a prosperous New Year is to schedule daily action on your most important goals. All of us already have a daily timetable or schedule made up of the things we need to complete each day. The funny thing is that very few people schedule in daily time to work on their most important goals in life. This is one of the main reasons why so many people fail to achieve their New Year’s Resolutions. When you decide on a specific goal to achieve and lock in a specific time each day to take action on your goal, you’ll greatly increase your chances of success. So today I’d like to encourage you to use these three simple steps to make 2014 your most productive year ever. Resolve to let go of the negative thoughts of the past, clarify your vision of the ideal future you want to create, and schedule time each day to work on your most important life goals.

Cheers,  Brian Kaplan