Winding up or Winding Down? Making the most of 2019

(inspired by Rachel Hollis’ Last 90 Days – Rise Podcast, episode 116 “How to change your life today”)

Don’t you just love this time of year? The weather is getting warmer, Sydney has moved to daylight savings time and you can just feel the long lazy Summer days ahead. It’s so tempting to sit back and relax because before you know it, the holidays will be upon us.

But is that a good idea? Three months is a full quarter of a year. That’s 12 weeks of solid work we can pack in, to set ourselves up for a great 2020!

I want to challenge you not to coast into the New Year. It’s easy to take the pressure off and forget what we have already achieved and that we’ve still got time to kick some more goals. Here’s my 3 step process on how to charge into the last quarter of the year with enthusiasm.

1. Review your goals for the year

Remember how excited you were at the beginning of this year? You set those challenging goals for yourself, but have you referred back to them at all during the year? It’s never too late to work towards achieving them. Have a think about what steps you can take in order to reach them.

Alternatively, are the goals you set still relevant? Perhaps you’ve taken a slightly different direction in your business and you need to revise them slightly? Perhaps you’ve already succeeded in what you had planned and now need to stretch yourself further!

2. Acknowledge and celebrate all you have achieved

For every goal that you set, acknowledge the work that you have put in to reaching them. What steps did you take? Even if you haven’t reached the goal yet, acknowledge all that you’ve done so far. Every action is a step forward. Make sure that you write it down. Seeing the list grow before your eyes is a magical thing.

If there were any goals that you set that no longer resonate with you, accept it and let it go. There is no point dwelling on them and feeling guilty for things that didn’t happen.

Lastly, look for the curve balls that life threw at you and acknowledge the impact that they had on you achieving or not achieving your goals. What were they, how did they affect you and if they came up again, would you handle them differently?

Take a moment to step back from the process at this point and congratulate yourself. No matter where you are and what you’ve done, you’ve made progress! (You may also at this point open a bottle of champagne or purchase your favourite chocolate. Go on. You deserve it.)

3. Prioritise your goals / action items for the last quarter

Now it’s time to choose which of your goals (whether old or new) is the priority for you right now. Which ones are going to give you the greatest satisfaction once you achieve them? Which ones are going to give you the greatest momentum going into 2020?

Push them to the top of the list.

Now write a list of steps or action items that you need to take to make those goals a reality. Even if you recognise that you may not achieve the goals as expected, any action is good action.

I’ve shared my October Goal Check In with you below to show you how looking back, looking down and the looking forward can energise you for the next three months. I hope this has inspired you to keep going until the end of the year and to not be tempted to wind down just yet.

October Goal Check In