3 Simple, Yet Powerful Changes for 2016

Before we dive in, thank you for reading!!! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it for you😉

Earlier today a good friend on mine, Kyle Van Pelt, shared an interesting idea, that I believe might resonate with a lot of people out there. He stated…

“It’s crazy — in the past, I have achieved a big long list of goals and didn’t really feel like I grew. It was because I was focused on achieving the goals and not growing.”

So rather than writing up some typical New Years resolutions, here are a few things that may seem really simple, but will push you to grow both personally and professionally.

Stop Making Excuses

These three words ☝️ may sound pretty lame and boring, but they are fundamental to success. Period.

Let me explain.

Have you ever found yourself stumbling over all of the reasons why you could not finish something, and deep down you know it’s just total bullshit, but it’s what you choose to accept as truth so you can pretend like it’s everyone/everything else and not you?😨

For everyone that just raised their hand subconsciously 👋👋👋 — thank you for your honesty. I think if we are all honest, we’ve all had one, two, three or dozen of those moments in our lives. It important to understand that the more you make excuses, the more you will look for the reasons why you can’t do something before you even try.

The cure?

It’s pretty easy to say “stop making excuses.” Unfortunately this is sometimes a nasty habit that needs to be broken. The only way to undo this is to become very self aware of what you think and why you think it. Here’s how:

Next time you find yourself making the usual excuses (I’m too tired; there’s not enough time; etc.), stop yourself and challenge your own thoughts. Are you you too tired, or just lazy? Is there not enough time, or did you waste time on unproductive things? This sounds basic, but when you’re being honest with yourself, you will find that many of the reason why you can’t are easily overcome by reasons why you can.

Organize Your Schedule & Learn to Say No

Again — super basic! Many of us had our parents say this over and over again, but it couldn’t be more helpful when working to grow yourself. Think about it🤔

How often do you make plans or commitments to do something, and someone else storms in and you end end up in a movie instead…😒 Or having a beer and watching the game…😑

When you make a plan or commitment to do something — do not waiver. This means saying NO to the “fun and exciting” things that easily pull you away from the hard stuff — work. This isn’t easy, but you will be much more at peace when you are in control of your own schedule, and achieving the goals that you set for yourself.

Behave Like the Person You Look Up To

I’m sure we can all think of think of someone we look up to. This may be someone in business, like Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg or Gary Vaynerchuk🔥🔥🔥. Maybe this is someone you know in your personal life. Whoever this person is, you look up to them for a reason — they are successful in something that is important to you, and you admire them for it.

One of the best ways to find success, is to mimic other successful people. Find out what makes this person tick. What’s does their schedule look like? Where do they spend their time? If you don’t know — do your homework!!! Follow them on social, research them, or (better yet) reach out yourself and ask if you can hear their story and what they have done to find success in certain areas of their life.

Once you’ve identified these things, duplicate them. Seriously — spend a few days trying to think like them. Duplicate their work ethic. You will be shocked at how different you behave. Over time you can identify what works for you and what doesn’t. In doing so you will learn a ton about yourself and likely accomplish many goals along the way.

For the record — I sincerely hope that at least ONE PERSON reaches out to a role model and asks to shadow them for a day. If you do this, please please please hit me up and tell me about that experience and what it meant to you.

Thanks again for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below. If you really liked this, it would mean a lot of you could click on the heart to recommend the story. The more people that see this, the greater we can all collaborate and learn from each other.

I hope you have an amazing 2016.

Connect with me on Twitter — @JoshRamos0818

- Josh Ramos