Tag Archives: resolutions

2018: How to do more and worry less

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As we hurtle towards the end of 2017, it’s inevitable that we start to look back over the year and ahead towards the new one. It’s a time of hope and dreams. It’s a shame then, that such determination and promise for the future only rolls around once a year.

I love personal improvement books. I’ve read hundreds of them by this point. But most people don’t. I can’t blame anyone for that. They’re notoriously dry and you have to dig through hundreds of pages to find the four really useful paragraphs they contain. You already know what I decided to do about it, right? Ta-dah!

The working title for this book was ‘goal setting for normal people’. It was never going to be the final name, but during the writing process I wanted to keep in mind the heart of what it should be about. Quite simply, to take the wisdom of those hundreds of books I’ve read, along with research papers, personal experiences and the behavioural lessons learned from writing The Realist’s Guide To Sugar Free. Then put it in an easy to read, useful and actionable book.

So what’s in it?

Plenty of information, without all the waffle and buzzwords. Things such as:

  • How to set the right goals for you (and not feel guilty about the ones you don’t)
  • How to plan for success (beyond the first week)
  • How to hack your brain to do this smarter not harder (great if you struggle with motivation and willpower)
  • How to track progress and level up (so you can continually dream bigger)

The Realist’s Guide To Resolutions will be published on December 28th. I wanted to make it available for those people who like to take advantage of the downtime between Christmas and New Year, or prefer to start the year with the thinking already done.

I’ve got my own yearly review day booked in for December 29th. I’ll consume several cups of very nice coffee, read the letter I wrote to myself at this time last year and write the one to open next year. I’ll look back at all the things I’ve done (fond memories of my four month sabbatical by the sea) and work out what I need to do to make next year even better. No doubt I’ll be slightly daunted by the sheer number of notebooks I’ve filled over the course of the year. My guess is upwards of twenty. Gulp.

If you’d rather wait until the festivities are out of the way and 2018 has arrived, then the pre-order will be delivered to your device for when you’re ready to start.

Like Sugar-Free, it’s a quick and easy read, with a dash of humour thrown in. It’s also reasonably priced (only 0.99 in most regions!) so you can get the most bang for your (literal) buck.

Here’s to a fantastic 2018, whatever that means for you.

The Realist’s Guide To Resolutions is available for Pre-order at Amazon.co.uk (or go to Amazon.com to jump to other regions)

Upcoming Offer

For those in the US, the kindle version of The Realist’s Guide To Sugar Free  will be discounted to 99c for New Year (December 29-January 4).

2017: New Year, New Goals, New Dreams

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I’m not going to lie. During November and December I fell off so many wagons I couldn’t work out which one I wanted to get back on first. So I drank another glass of wine, enough cheese and crackers to sink a small boat and opened a box of chocolates instead.

But now that has all changed! By the mystical power of the calendar year flicking over, my willpower has returned and I am wholesome and virtuous again!

I wish.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been wholesome and virtuous. But I have begun to steadily correct course this week to get back on track. But where did it all go wrong in the first place?

I suspect much of it came down to illness and exhaustion. I failed to achieve a lot of things in 2016 because I felt worn out or ill most of the time. Listening to the Creative Penn podcast, it was great to hear another writer making health a priority in 2017. It is very easy to set ‘business’ type goals only. We’re taught how to focus on finance and career, but not necessarily spiritual or health goals. Last year was a harsh reminder of how if I don’t sleep and maintain a healthy lifestyle, eventually I’ll fail in other areas as well. I had two (because I’m a slow learner) fairly serious burnouts last year. I’m determined not to make the same mistakes again.

I’m tracking my sleep on my Fitbit and have once again begun the process of detoxing from sugar. I got a huge morale boost from seeing my book, The Realist’s Guide To Sugar Free at #2 in the kindle personal health charts in the first days of January. Hopefully I’ve been able to help a few people on their journey towards making the change too. Throw in a daily journaling and gratitudes practice and I can keep moving towards a physically and emotionally better me.

I’ve also challenged myself to read a book a week in 2017. With an English degree, I find it easy to read quickly, so the only excuse I have for not doing it is that I simply haven’t made it a priority. I have to hold myself accountable for that.

Mainly, I want to work on more exciting and challenging writing projects in 2017. I won’t give the numbers, but I have set myself a pretty hardcore stretch goal for increasing my writing income compared to 2016. Like health and reading, it will come down to prioritising and commitment. I’m good with that. When the 6am alarm sounded each day this week, I got up, got coffee and did the work. That’s how you achieve anything, right?

So those are some of my goals and plans for 2017. I want to get into a more consistent blogging schedule as well, to hold myself accountable to these things as much as anything. It also means I’ll get to share some tips and tricks I find along the way.

2016 was a terrible year generally, but with some major personal highs. I want 2017 to be the year to give back. To use my voice to make a change in the world when I can. That sounds lofty and ambitious. But if you haven’t been happy with the way things went politically in 2016 then you have to raise your voice. You have to do something. As Shonda Rhimes said, a hashtag is not a movement. Do something.