By Mark Burch, SLEEKSTONE Private Clients.
As we come out of lockdown, what are the things you have learned about yourself? What will you take out into our ‘new normal’?
We’ve all been in lockdown for so long, you have to ignore the people saying you’re “lazy” and “lack discipline” if you don’t come out of lockdown with a new skill or talent.
Most entrepreneurs I work with never stopped creating, thinking or adapting to the ever-changing surroundings in which we all found ourselves in.
Hopefully, if lockdown gave you anything, it gave you time to focus on what’s in front of you and around you. Many are coming out of lockdown with a new-found focus. One where work isn’t the most important thing in their world.
It would seem that the majority of us don’t want to snap back to our old routines. A recent YouGov survey found that 85% of Britons want to see at least some of the personal or social changes we have experienced to continue post-lockdown. But in order to make this happen you need to plan for it.
So is it possible to have the best of both worlds?
Yes, I believe it is, but you need to make a conscious decision about those routines and practices that you wish to be part of your daily life.
By focusing on what you want in life, this will help you achieve more. The most driven people in the world all have goals and aspirations, they write them down where they can see them every day. They challenge their inner computer (brain) to find solutions to reach those goals. Focus is important, it sets you aside from the competition. If you focus on what you want, feel it, wear it, drive it, live it you’ll find that you will begin to achieve what you want.
How do you reach your goal?
- Be mindful
Breathe, take time out of your day to clear your mind. Write everything down, clear your mind, being mindful doesn’t mean keeping your mind full - it should be called mindless - empty your mind, so you have less in it.
- Write it down
You are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Have a notebook, white board, create an action note in your phone to keep your head clear of ideas and reminders. You’ll find that more creative ideas and thoughts come when you create space - we’re only human after all.
- Delegate everything that doesn’t need you to do it.
Release yourself from trying to be everything to everyone. If it’s not your forte, pay someone who is good at it to do it for you!
Write a list of what you do each and every day. How many tasks do you do, repeatedly, that someone else could do better? How many tasks should YOU be doing that you aren’t as you’re doing other things badly?
- Surround yourself with inspirational people, remove the negative people in your life.
Most of all, embrace change, accept that change is inevitable, adapt, and sometimes we just have to “go with it” to see where we end up - many times it will bring you to somewhere you hadn’t thought of as possible.