There we have it, the most magical and manic time of the year is done and dusted for another 11 months. Let’s take more than a sprinkle of the magic with us into this new year, bring on the 20s!
On behalf of our entire team at Art of Brilliance, I would love to wish you a BRILLIANT year and decade ahead. We hope these upcoming times are full of an abundance of love, positive vibes and wonderful memories.
But if only to welcome the love in with open arms, absorb the positive vibes, block out the nonsense and make the wonderful memories was as simple as that. Especially in January, you might even be thinking that I’m taking the custard cream right out of your mouth. But please, give me a chance, we all know that January is a month of two disparate halves.
The first half is typically full to the brim with anticipation and motivation – a time of the year when all of your resolutions seem probable – this is the year that you’ll get into shape, the year that you will spend more on experiences than materialistic shiny things, you’ll spend quality time with your loved ones and the year you prioritise yourself. Trust me, I want all of these things for you.
The second half is unfortunately typically associated with reality and settling. The novelty of the new year has worn off, the emails have not stopped, your boss is still moaning, the weather is useless and you may have come to a realisation that you want to be like Harry & Meghan and #megxit
Well it’s not that easy – we have to suck it up, breathe in, breathe out, shake it all about and get on with it. Less time wishing, more time making it happen. We know that we have to work for everything we want in life.
And this is where I step in, give you a gentle hand and a top tip that has transformed many of our team and delegates’ lives.
But just before I share this toppest tip with you, I want you to take yourself to your desk, first thing on a Monday morning (Magic Monday is what I prefer to call it). You’ve gone in, you’ve got your caffeine brewing next to you, loaded your glaring hardware in front of you, shuffled all the random files beneath and stopped listening to Tony gossiping behind you.
You lock eyes with your inbox to see all of your unread emails – as you scroll through the headings of each one, you question what type of person sends these kinds of emails over the weekend?! You take out your pen and paper (or open up a new tab if you love tech) and you create your first list of the week, the first list of your day…your ‘to do’ list.
Here you’ll plant all of the tasks that you aim to complete. You might be a) the type who ticks each one off upon completion b) the type who does a task and adds it on to the list, just so you can tick it off, or you might be c) d) or e) and beyond…….each to their own. No right. No wrong.
Now it’s time to intervene and reveal the toppest tip of the decade – instead of writing a ‘to do’ list, write a ‘to be’ list.
Focus on what kind of person you want to ‘be’ each and every day.
For example,
- ‘Today I will be kind’ – this could mean you ask someone about their weekend or make someone a cuppa.
- ‘Today I will be loving’ – this could be as simple as sending your spouse a message about how much you appreciate them or leaving a cute note for when they come home.
- ‘Today I will be funny’ – you could prepare some of your finest jokes and count how many people you can make chuckle.
- ‘Today I will be diligent’ – you could make sure that every email you send will be the email the best version of you would send.
Once you focus on the type of human you want to be each day, your actions will align themselves naturally. At the end of the day, we are human beings, not human doers.
You get the picture. You’ve got some examples. Now time for you to take action.
Try doing this every day for a week and let us know the difference. You may find it so fabulous for you, that you share the idea with others.
You are welcome.
OODLES of love and positivity,
Sanj – your resident Welsh Indian (yeah, bet you’ve never heard of that combination before!)