Just Another Year, Or Is It?

Before I get carried away writing today’s blog I want to take the opportunity to wish you all a prosperous, fabulous and above all love-filled 2017.

Some people say the year gone was but a rehearsal, others even say that this year is going to be THE year, this is the time when we claim our lives back, our power and once and for all we get to be excellent.

If you are like me, I am sure you may have even said this yourself.

The sobering and scary truth is that no single year, ever is a rehearsal, once that time is gone, once those 365 days are gone, that is it.

I used to be really good at maths, and every now and then I like to use it (just in case what they say is true, use it or lose it!!!).

Ready?

In a year, we have 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds.

We are only getting started…

So, if you live in a Western country, in average you will work 40 hours (which translates into 8 hours per day, based on a 5-day working week), you will be entitled to at least 2 weeks holidays, plus any other public holidays (which I am ignoring, as they vary from country to country!).

If you are fairly “normal” you will sleep a minimum of 6 hours per night, you will spend a couple of hours eating and getting ready, a couple of hours getting to and from work (let’s not take into account traffic and other natural phenomena), you will probably also have a couple of hours of leisure where you do your own thing (to remain sane).

For those of you who are parents, I will give you 2 hours to help your children with homework and any other things you might do with your children daily, like putting them to bed, chasing them around the house, etc.

Also, let’s add 14 hours per week for house chores, shopping, etc.

Are you with me so far?

This is what we have so far, weekly

Work: 40-Hours

Sleep: 42-Hours

Eating: 14-Hours

Moving around: 14-Hours

Leisure: 14-Hours

Children: 14-Hours

Chores: 14-Hours

If we wanted to see this daily (based on 5 days) this is what I would look like:

Work: 8-Hours

Sleep: 6-Hours

Eating: 2-Hours

Moving around: 2-Hours

Leisure: 2-Hours

Children: 2-Hours

Chores: 2-Hours

If my calculations aren’t wrong this is how much time you have left at the end of each day: 0!!!

Are you surprised?

You probably aren’t and neither am I!

You might be asking what happens with the other 2 days?

You end up with 16 hours to catch up and get on with whatever didn’t get done during your working week, which very strangely these days is: more work!

If you are not at work, you are either thinking of work, that you might lose your job, thinking of changing jobs, maybe even starting your own business and next thing, it is time to go back to work.

Why did I do this morbid calculation I hear you say!

I wanted to illustrate why some people never ever get out of the hamster wheel of life.

It is really easy to have dreams and hopes and ideas of what the future may hold; however, if we don’t do something different to what we have always done, we will continue to get the same results, or worse still (if that was even possible!), we may even end up in a worse off position - it has been known, it is happening around us all the time.

Was 2016 a trial run for 2017?

Did you say the same about 2015? And 2014? And 2013? And the last 10 years?

What have you been doing with your time?

Did you know that for millennia we have done whatever we could to make ourselves look younger, to travel back in time, and simply put to have more time.

Time is the only resource that is not infinite to us, once a day has gone that is it, it is gone forever, it will not come back, it is part of our past and memories.

Also, let’s be honest, the only form in which it comes back to us is as regrets, the ‘what ifs., the it ‘could have beens’, and ‘the cowardly only ifs’!

What are you going to do differently this year?

Me, for starters, I have had a serious conversation with myself, I sat myself down and I asked myself the question: Jorge, what do you want in 2017? Really, for real, what do you want?

My question to you is what do you want to accomplish in 2017?

At this point, I want to highlight, I have not used the word “change” on purpose because I believe that in order to get what we want in life and achieve our goals, change isn’t what will get us there, it is by transforming and evolving what we already possess that will make the difference.

Let me explain this further…

When we are working towards a goal, it isn’t by changing or forcing change that we will get the results we desire.

On the other hand, if we look at what we have and ways in which we could move things around, shift things (and this includes our thoughts), evolve things to be more effective and efficient we will be motivated to move in the direction of our goal, rather than fighting it because it is something we don’t want to “change”.

Have you set aside some time to plan the year ahead?

For the last few years I have taken the very first day of the year to set my goals for the year ahead, I do my wheel of life and look at the areas of my life that need improving and write my goals around them.

I look at my fitness and wellbeing, my relationships, my spirituality and finances and compare them to the previous year.

Then I ask myself the following questions:

What went well?

What worked?

What didn’t work?

What can I do to make it better next year?

And this gives birth to the strategies I will use to execute these goals.

Do you set aside some time to reflect on the year gone? To ask yourself what do I have to do to get my s - - t done?

Is there an aspect of your life that doesn’t satisfy you?

What is it?

What can you do this year to transform it?

When I look around, especially today, many people will have wasted the most important day of the year. They will be in bed (most of the day) with a sore head and “trying” to figure out what they left behind in the “old” year!

Today is the day when you set your intention for the year.

What will I achieve in January?

What will I accomplish in February (the shortest month of the year)?

What will I have got done in the first quarter of the month (end of March)?

I remember one of Tony Robbins famous quotes:

“The quality of your life depends and it’s based on the quality of the questions you ask yourself.”

What do I want to?

Where do I want to be?

When will I have accomplished my goal by?

How can I ensure I get my s - - t done?

How much money will I have in my bank account by the end of the year?

Who do I need to speak to to help me with my dreams?

Why do I want to do this?

What questions are you asking yourself that will empower you to move forward?

Here are some other questions I will be asking myself in 2017

Is that next glass of wine going to help me move forward?

How long will I have to exercise to burn the calories in that kebab?

Will I regret it tomorrow?

What would my mother say?

What will my 90 years old self say about this?

Will I be using this in 10 years time?

Is this enriching my life in some shape or form?

Will I need this money tomorrow?

Who can I help with this?

Do I really want this?

Who am I really wanting to impress with this?

2017 doesn’t have to be the same as the previous years

I believe we all know what we have to do to fulfil our dreams and create the lives we desire.

We all know we don’t have to eat too much or drink till we lose consciousness.

We know we have to exercise, especially as we get older for mobility, flexibility and weight reasons.

We all understand the importance of education and learning. Those who are self-taught and self-educated are the ones who can vouch for it.

If what we did and tried in previous years didn’t work, is there any point in wasting our time, money and energy doing the same? Really!!!

The answer is NO!

Be smart, be savvy, do not rob yourself of the magnificent life that belongs to you.

When I was working out how many hours we have left at the end of each day I was somewhat upset.

I will tell you why I was upset because some people waste the most valuable days and years of their lives hoping that someday everything will be better, that someday that rich man or woman will show up.

They hope that someday they will win the lottery (without even buying any tickets!!!), they dream of someday waking up and realising it was all a dream.

That someday they will be slimmer, that someday they will be X or Y or Z.

Dear friends, I have got news for you…

There is NO someday!!!

Someday is a make-believe messed up idea we created to excuse ourselves. To absolve ourselves for doing nothing,,,

The time to get s - - t done is now, today, this very second.

We go through live hoping that someday it will all be better, and then when it comes to our last breath on this planet we spend it regretting all the things we didn’t do, because the penny finally drops that there is no someday.

Do you want to wake up at some point in 2017 regretting you didn’t take action when you could have?

Do you want to end 2017 the same way you did with 2016 and 2015… and 2008… and 2000… and 1995?

Someday is TODAY.

Today is THE day.

Today is the day when you say:

You know what I am good enough and I deserve the best in life. Let’s just wake up and grab the bull by the horns.

Do you want to have your own business?

Brilliant. What are you going to do about it?

Do you want to have a salary raise?

Excellent! How are you going to “convince” your boss you deserve it?

Do you want a new job?

Marvellous… What job is it you want?

You get the idea…

At this point I want to stress:

The quality of your life depends on the quality of the questions you ask yourself!!!

2017 isn’t a trial run. 2017 isn’t about change. 2017 isn’t about the same old.

2017 is about action. 2017 is about NOW. 2017 is about exploiting your excellence. 2017 is all about YOU.

Start asking yourself some powerful questions that will help you head in the right direction.

Have a fantastic day.

May 2017 be the best year in your life yet.

With all my love,

Jorge