Tag Looking to the Future

Looking Ahead

Steve Keating 4 Comments

First off, Happy New Year. Thank you to everyone for investing a bit of your time each week to read this blog. There are a ton of blogs out there and every time someone reads one of my posts I take it as a compliment.

So, here we are in another New Year. Many of you will have made New Year’s resolutions by now. Some of you will have already fell short of making those resolutions happen. The vast majority of the rest of you will fall short of realizing your resolutions in the next couple of weeks.

That does not make you a failure or an unsuccessful person. It’s proof you’re human. I actually did hear of one person who figured out the whole resolution thing. They have made a resolution along with a definitive plan to accomplish it. Their resolution is to read more in 2023. In order to accomplish that they have turned on Closed Captioning on their television. 

I think that’s called “gaming the system.” Let’s face it, most of us just stink when it comes to executing on our resolutions. 

That’s why I don’t bother with resolutions. I’m no better at following through with them than anyone else. Instead I make commitments. Then I develop a solid executable plan to make certain I can honor that commitment. Then I tell the people closest to me, people who matter most to me, about the commitments and ask for their help in holding me accountable for that commitment. Often times I do more than tell them, I write out the commitments along with my plan to honor them. I print them out and give them to the people. I practically beg those people to hold me accountable.

I tell them, only kind of jokingly, they if I fail to keep that commitment they will be at least partial responsible for my falling short. I know my best chance for success comes from being accountable to someone. That’s true for you as well. We ALL do better with accountability in our lives. Again, that just proves we are human. 

So if you’re looking ahead for greater success and happiness in 2023 the first thing you have to do is be certain you’re looking ahead. Go into the New a year with a future perspective. Not a past perspective. Take your 2022 lessons into the future with you but leave the losses and disappointments behind. 

Invest some serious time reflecting on where you want to be when 2023 is past. Also consider what time, energy and resources you’re willing to invest to make that happen. Then make a commitment to take whatever action is required to make it real. 

Share that commitment with people who care enough about you to hold you accountable. Truly accountable. They need to be willing to bug the hell out of you and you need to be willing to allow them to. 

We can ALL use a little help now and again. Being held accountable to do what we said we would do is some of the most awesome help you’ll ever get. If you want anything “better” in life then step one is realizing that you’re ultimately the one who must make it so. So go forth and make it so!

Sudden Change

Steve Keating 3 Comments

Change can come out of nowhere. As prepared as you think you may be for the unexpected when it arrives it’s still unexpected. But it’s vital that even in the swirl of unknowns you know this one irrefutable fact… you matter.

That means that you must embrace the unknowns and see the incredible world of opportunities before you. Even if at first glance it may look to others as if the rug has been pulled out from under you, always know that you can make the choice to use that rug as a flying carpet to your future.

All change brings with it a sense of loss. That’s perfectly normal. Grab on to that sense of loss, look at it from all directions, become good friends with it, get very very comfortable with it, and then discard it. There are just too many possibilities in the future for you to be concerned about what was in the past.

The world can be a very unfriendly place right now. So make certain that you remain kind. Kind to others of course but also kind to yourself. When sudden, unwanted change comes your way pay particular attention to how you’re talking to yourself. It is far easier to get past the hurtful things others say about you than it is to get over the hurtful things you say about yourself. So do not say them to begin with.

Be kind to yourself. Always.

Whatever you do don’t be mad at the change or the circumstances (or person) that thrust it upon you. Anger is an emotion that burns the precious energy you’ll need for whatever comes next. There is zero return on anger, it is an expensive emotion that no one can afford.

Make thoughtful decisions. Depending on the change you find yourself going through you may be tempted to make quick decisions. Quick does not mean rash. Be thoughtful in your decision making, the future is a long time so try to make your decisions for the long-term. Think things through, the better your decisions today the better all of your tomorrows will be.

Don’t blame others for the circumstances you’re in. Blaming others only slows down your transition to what will be. Change experts describe the time between what was and what will be as the transition phase of change. This is where the rubber meets the road. You will either slip into the past and risk living there or charge eagerly into the future, that choice is entirely yours.

The past presents the opportunity to wallow in a vast pity party. The future presents limitless opportunities for growth and prosperity. I would urge you to seek the future because your next success can only be found there, you’ll never find what’s next by looking behind you.

Many people won’t like to hear this but more than anything else, more than a person, more than circumstances, more then a deadly virus, it’s your past choices, good or bad, that put you in whatever situation you’re in at this very moment. It is the acceptance of that basic fact that will help you make sound choices for your future.

My Grandfather always told me that the most successful people find a way to make a good hand out of whatever cards they are dealt. Play the cards you have whether you like them or not because well, because they are the cards you have. Remember, a pair of threes can beat a pair of Aces if the person with the Aces is afraid to play them.

Now there are some of you who will say “all that’s easy for you to say.” To you I would say nope, not a single word of this is easy for me to say. I would also say listen to what I say but focus on YOU, focus on what YOU think and what YOU do. Remember how this post started…YOU matter.

Do what you need to do to take care of yourself because if you’re not taking care of yourself you can’t take care of anyone else. That reality will never change.