"Stride forward with a firm, steady step knowing with a deep, certain inner knowing that you will reach every goal you set yourselves, that you will achieve every aim."
~ Eileen Caddy
As midnight on December 31, 2020 grew near, a lot of messaging around resolutions and "New Year, New You" began to surface, as they do each year around that time.
For some, that is encouraging. For others, that is a reminder to reflect. For others, that is daunting to think about change. For many, it is simply a forced concept of resolve due to the time of year. Regardless of how the moving from December to January typically strikes you, and regardless of the date on the calendar, or time of year, it is consistently a good time, when it is the right time for you, to focus on hitting your stride. We happen to be at the beginning of 2021, so how about it...what stride do you want to hit in 2021?
That stride, your stride, will not be hit without intention, so please consider these four phases of stride-hitting for a successful venture this year:
1) Reflect on what went well and what you want to improve in order to create awareness of where you are right now.
2) Imagine the desired state where you are going so that you can embrace the look and feel of what you want to achieve.
3) Assess the gaps between where you are and where you are going for the base for your plan for the year, which includes skills, experiences, people to engage, and more.
4) Map out milestone accomplishments with realistic wins along the way that can be recognized and celebrated as you achieve them.
5) Decide on immediate actions to take to launch the plan - from something as simple as sharing the plan for accountability to scheduling actions on your calendar to keep the momentum flowing.
6) Create habits that are well-serving to the plan such as daily activities that form a pattern and lead to consistent effort that repeats (hence making a habit), weekly check-ins on progress, monthly milestone monitoring, and other time increments for ensuring forward progress.
7) Reward yourself along the way in the ways that enhance your efforts and encourage your continued momentum. For example, if health and well-being are part of your desired state, plan and mapping out, and your actions of mindful eating and movement have become habits, reward yourself with a spa treatment over a trip to the ice cream store, so as to keep the alignment, and therefore, keep the habits reinforced.
When these seven steps are consciously and intentionally embraced, it is not about focusing on a new attitude or a new approach, it is about seeing and achieving the new stride that is hit because of you...and not the changing of a date on the calendar!
