2014, The Best Year Yet!

I have been reflecting on the past year with gratitude for all the many blessings I have received and looking toward 2014 with questions about how I can make it the best year yet.

For 2013, I am very grateful.  I now have two healthy, active grandsons who have stolen my heart. My son and daughter-in-law have allowed me to enter their lives as Mema, and have introduced me to the joys and challenges of a missionary life and spirit. My daughter has moved within 5 hours of me when she had been 20+ hours away.  My youngest son has spent the last 5 months with me as he looked for employment in his field, giving me time to really get to know him better as an adult. Now he has been blessed with a great position and will be moving on to his next adventure.

I have learned a lot about myself, have faced many fears and my struggle to give up control, and have learned to be more trusting and flexible. I have been encouraged to discover my passion and purpose and have launched my full-time, home business.  I have been nourished by the writings and presentations of people like Jim Rohn, Darren Hardy, Jeff Olsen, Anne Voskamp and Sarah Young.

I am grateful for the health of my parents, the love and support of friends and the enjoyment of sharing health and wellness with so many wonderful people.

As I look to 2014, I ask myself what I would like to do better, how I can be healthier and what specific steps am I willing to take?

I am sure we have probably all heard the expression, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Many of us know where we would like to be a year from now, but we fail to actually map out the steps of the journey, to explore the route it will take to get to that destination. We are sometimes surprised to find ourselves beginning another year without being closer to the goals we had desired at the beginning of the last year.

A year from now I will be very disappointed if I have not figured out a way to add more regular exercise to each day.  I will be frustrated if I have not learned better listening skills, spent quality time building strong mentoring relationships and reached some of my business and financial goals.

Simple steps, repeated daily, will take me to where I want to go.  I realize that I can start with 10 minutes of stretching each day and this will be better than setting more difficult exercise goals and then not doing anything at all.  I can always increase and build on my successful beginning. I will set a plan to drink more water (6 - 8 oz. glasses a day) and come up with a creative way to remind myself (any suggestions?).

I will spend 10 to 20 minutes each day taking care of receipts, recording mileage, preparing tax information.  I would like to commit to reading 30 minutes of a self-development or skill building book each day (M-F) so I can grow as a person and a business leader.

Over the next several days, before New Years Day, I will be mapping out my steps for 2014. Setting simple, specific, measurable and consistent steps is the key to success.

As you look for 2014, what simple steps can you map out to get you to the success you would like to experience before 2015? Can you share an idea that might inspire me or someone else?