By: D. A. Slinkard
We are beginning the month of August, and I want to start this article with a question – How is your year going thus far? Hopefully, everyone reading this is generating the kind of success imagined at the end of last year. If you are not as successful as you hoped for or have not even begun to concentrate on what you want to accomplish in 2023, it is time to build momentum at this time of the year. Too many people derail their weeks, their months, their years, and their lives all because they fail to concern themselves with the right mindset. It is not too late for 2023, but we also must be preparing for 2024.
I want you to think about everything you want to accomplish this year and make a list of these items. I want you to list these items in the order of importance to you as a necessity for making 2023 a success for you. When you make this list, I want you to envision these items as if you will not fail in your endeavors. Too often we limit our thinking and our lives because we have the fear of failure instead of approaching it with the mindset of “I will not fail.”
This needs to be the year we no longer take the haphazard approach of the “what if.” How many times have you heard someone empathetically ask, “What else can go wrong?” and behold something else adds to the negativity. Asking questions with negative connotations adds no value to our lives or what we want to accomplish.
To build momentum in 2023 and beyond, your focus needs to be on activities that help you reach your desired results. As you look at your list and the actions needed to achieve success, if you find an item that moves you further away from your goal or is not producing positive results, then you need to purge that item now. How many times do we quash our own dreams by wasting our time and efforts on things that bring absolutely no fruit to our lives? We need to add value to every day we live.
Maybe that should be our goal – not to waste our time or efforts on meaningless things. Seriously think about how “busy” we Americans are with our lives and the distractions we have. We wonder why we struggle to find the elusive work-life balance, but is it really any wonder with the emergence of technology? I remember the days when the only way to talk to someone on the phone was to call their home number, and if the person was not home, then you would not be talking to them.
Technology has made us readily available through our computers, tablets, phones, and even those Dick Tracy smartwatches. Although we are available for communication, is this killing our momentum for success? I am going to tell you that it is. How much more successful could we be as a society if we were able to “de-technologize” ourselves from our electronic devices?
As I write this article, my phone keeps dinging, and what do I do? I stop writing to check my phone notifications, and before I realize it, I am lost ruffling through email after email, text message after text message. This is the same old story for numerous people, and what little motivation there was, has been lost because of distractions we must fight against.
With your list in hand, I urge you to make it a priority to “de-technologize” yourself so you can have the success in the upcoming year that you desire, and just maybe you will be able to cut out some of life’s distractions. This may be easier said than done, but until you try it, you have no idea what will and will not work for you. If you were able to eliminate just a fraction of the distractions in your life, what kind of improvements could this make for you and your family?
How much more productive could you be in your entire work-life balance if you were able to focus just a little bit more attention on what is going to bring you success in 2023 and years beyond? This is what our resolve must be for the upcoming year; we must look at life as “I will not fail.” The time to build momentum starts now by looking at your list, knowing you will achieve success, and taking action today.
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard would love your feedback. You can contact him at da.slinkard@gmail.com
April 19, 2024
