The end is near. Ten weeks till December 31. The year is in wind down mode. But how can you gear up for a strong finish, so you can look back on 2014 as a remarkable year in your life?
Ten weeks is enough time to build a habit, to craft a routine, to hone a system.
Me, I’m going back to my hundred pushups plan. It will be rewarding to finish the year physically stronger than I started it. I’m also going to focus on tightening my daily habits for reading and writing. I want to aim for a bigger writing project than posting on this site daily. And I’m going to be intentional about more quality time with my family.
It’s easy to slack off as the holiday season approaches, to defer discipline and hard things to the new year. But imagine how you hope to feel on December 31. What project have you put off that would excite you if you did it? What relationship in your life needs attention? Is there a worthwhile challenge that scares you a bit? Which habit can you form that would make a big difference?
Open a document or grab a marker and some paper and write: “What if…?”
Respond quickly to that question with as many possibilities for the next few weeks as you can imagine. Then go through that list and focus on the possibilities that elicit the most excitement. Now put a plan in place to make them happen and get busy.
Schedule an appointment with yourself for December 31 to review your year and to begin planning your adventures for 2015.
How can this be your best year yet? A lot can be done in ten weeks. It’s not too late to take action and finish strong.
[…] Wednesday. As of today there are only nine weeks left in 2014, one week down in my ten week countdown to make 2014 more […]
[…] been counting down the weeks left in the year, and we are at the eight week mark […]
[…] been counting down the weeks left in the year, and we are at the seven week mark […]
[…] 4th-grade-class this morning. One of her teachers reads this site and was inspired by my countdown of the remaining weeks in the year. She’s been talking with her students about finishing strong this year and having them come […]
[…] been advocating end-of-year resolutions lately. The New Year’s resolution bandwagon is always too crowded, […]
[…] is the halfway point of my ten-week countdown to the end of the year. There are now only five weeks left till December 31. I’ve not missed […]
[…] 31 is four weeks from today. I’ve been counting down toward a strong finish to the year. I was tired of writing off the last weeks of the year and […]
[…] I’ve been counting down to the end of the year in an attempt to finish strong, to end the year with momentum rather than in a carb-fueled haze of regret. I’ve been grooving some new habits into my daily routine and building my days around them. I wake up and check my Habit List app first thing and know I’ve got to check off those habits I’ve chosen for the day. And it’s been a success so far. I’ve transformed my mornings by rising early and meditating daily. (This habit is the one that has the potential for the greatest impact over the long term. I’m starting to get what a game-changer meditation can be.) I’m walking at least a mile every day. I’ve stuck to my push-ups routine. And here I am posting every day. […]
[…] Me, neither. I mostly love this time of year. But as I count down the final weeks of the year I’ve come to the point where plans for Christmas have swallowed almost everything else in […]
[…] I’ve been counting down the weeks in 2014, aiming to finish strong with new habits and some momentum for the beginning of the new year. Rather than goals, I’ve been focusing on habits and routines because systems are more powerful than goals. […]
[…] know, I know… Give it a rest, […]