For the last few years I’ve picked a word that helps as a reminder for what I want to focus on throughout the year.
I use it as a mantra to help guide me from moment to moment to take action and overcome thinking and behavioural patterns I notice in myself.
In 2023 the theme was “Practice” which helped me to develop new skills and be comfortable with being a beginner and always learning.
The theme for 2024 is “Decide”.
This is about making decisions in advance and committing to them.
I tend to leave my options open for the most flexibility, but what ends up happening more often than not is being overwhelmed with options and last minute rushing.
So for 2024, the theme is “Decide”.
Pick something and take action.
Decide in advance.
Decide something to work on and go for it.
Practice being proactive.
Do not dwell on things in your mind. Don’t leave decisions until the last minute.
Decide to work on it, or not work on it. Decide to do it, or not do it.
There is no maybe.
Don’t live in what Brook Castillo calls “the miserable maybe”.
The miserable maybe has us going around in circles, thinking about the pros and cons, putting off decisions we know we need to make, going back and forth between what we should or shouldn’t do.
When we make a decision, we take all that energy that’s being wasted going in circles and move it in a straight line towards our goal.
Decisions create momentum.
Think of all the time you’ve spent being in decisive and unsure. On waiting for someone else’s opinion, on putting things off until later, on holding back, on being unsure.
By making a decision, you immediately get that time back and the energy that goes with it. Imagine what you could do with all that time!
Here’s to a great 2024 of making decisions.