A good start

A new calendar year provides people everywhere with the opportunity to consider what they achieved (or not!) in the previous year with a view to doing some things differently in the next 12 months.

Many people that I speak to like to ‘ease’ into this new period, yet my advice is always to start the year how you mean to go on, from day one and find a good rhythm that you can maintain. 

If you mean to be a more productive, more disciplined, less distracted, more patient human, who aims to achieve the goals that they’ve been set, then you need to begin with intent.

That’s not to say that you expend all of your energy in the first week back, however, tackling the most difficult thing that you have on your list, creating systems or routines to make your life easier or re-establishing relationships with the team is a great way to kick things off.

I like to think of the year as an Olympic middle-distance runner would think of a race. Prepare well, look after your mental and physical health, be creative and maintain a positive mindset. So that when the gun sounds, you can come out of the blocks quickly, before settling into a steady race pace to help you get to the line in the time you’d like to achieve, knowing that you’ve done your best.

If you want to have a year to remember, then a good start is critical.