Thursday, November 24, 2016

Year end walk through | Walk of gratitude

Bismillah.

Found this inspiring piece of writing in my Inbox yesterday. It's about 8 strategies super-successful people are using now, to accomplish more next year. It's compiled and written by Michael Hyatt. Some of them may already be familiar to us, still I considered them refreshing and motivating. 

The eight strategies are listed below and I have summarized the key points for my own reference. May it be useful for you too. 

1. Reflect on the past year
We should block some time, the last week of December or just one day before year end, to review the year's calendar, go through our accomplishments or wins in the various areas of life e.g. work, family and decide what things we want to make happen next year so that we can live the most purposeful life we can in 2017.

2. Stay positive
We should leave the old year where it fell. Don't focus on the regrets or the negatives, build on our strengths instead. 

3. Express gratitude
Prepare a "gratitude flood" that is recall or write down every good thing or try identify 50 good things we can remember in 2016. Then ask ourselves what it is that we want to be most thankful for, one year from now. Perhaps, it's better health/weight/waist line or one new skill acquired? John Gordon takes a daily "walk of gratitude", while walking, practice gratitude and pray.

[I find having this blog useful so I could go through my postings beginning from January and see places I traveled to, photos I took, what made me tick, what bothered me etc. Similarly, going through our Instagram photos could help with this "gratitude flood" process.]     

4. Eliminate the excess
Try eliminate the bottom 30% of our activities, projects or commitments that did not give a good pay-off, those under performing tasks which we either hated or loved. By removing these from our calendar we will have freed up more time for activities which could bring in better yield. 

5. Set compelling goals
Set a clear vision for what we want to accomplish in 2017 and why we want to accomplish it. The why is crucial. Think about things that we can work on in 2017 that would make us smile. Then move on from the strategic to the tactical and organize our work accordingly so we can have that smile.

6. Break it down
Once we have decided on our goals for 2017, we should chunk them down to three or four manageable ones which we may want to achieve on quarterly basis. Lisa TerKeurst identified 3 goals namely: giving, family and personal development. She said: "This is a great year to become an expert on something. By pre-deciding what that something is, I can become a strategic student and an eventual expert." 

A great year is a result of a good month, a good week and a good day. "Best years come from best efforts performed daily." - Chris Brogan

[I want to be a fluent/better reciter of the Quran who understands the tajweed rules very well. And I want to learn the Arabic terminologies of 10 salawat which I have identified/memorized. To this end, I am grateful to have found a good Quran teacher who comes to my place twice a week. May Allah increase us in beneficial knowledge. Ameen]

7. Schedule the year
Map out the entire year by blocking out our calendar for the most important things we want to achieve in 2017. When we see the big picture in advance, we will be able to work with more purpose throughout the year.

8. Unplug for a time
Schedule your vacations/time-off to focus on God, family and fun and all other good things except work. A good time to do this is during the last week of the year so that we may embrace the new year feeling refreshed, revived and renewed.
  
Click on the link below to read the full article written by Michael Hyatt.   
Achieve What Matters Most in 2017

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And folks, don't forget to wear a "gratitude face" : )
May the Light shine on us all, everyday of the year, this year, next year, and the next, next, next...
Ameen.


I post whatever photos of me I like.
My blog is my free country.
I am not apologetic about looking prettier in pics or in person or whatever.
No need to ask me what filter I used.
I wear a face of gratitude.
Shuh...skip this space, if it brings out the worse in you.
They say, kill your darlings, if you have to.
Peace! 

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