“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” Jack Dixon.
I woke up this morning feeling a little bit down.

The year has gone so fast – yet, I feel as though I have done so little. I have been chasing my tail trying to accomplish so much – yet, my ‘to do list’ seems to be getting longer and longer. There is so much more to be achieved, but with only 27 days left to the year, it looks as though I have literally run out of time.

Apparently, I am not alone.

Small business owners the world over struggle to fit everything in to their daily schedule – with this time of year marking a time where the scoreboard comes out and crosses begin to appear, with thick red markers firmly reminding entrepreneurs that they have not done enough hard work or scored the goals they needed to win the game.

But do entrepreneurs ever really ‘win’ the game? If you are anything like me, you keep changing the goal posts and every time you get close, you shift the posts just that little bit further.

At times, I get so excited about accomplishing something in business or my personal life that I want to pinch myself. Yet, minutes later that accomplishment doesn’t seem so important or so big. Immediately, I change the goal posts, ready for the next challenge.

This time of year is great for reflection, but it can also cause unhappiness.  Some people “hate” this time of year, because when they reflect – they don’t see the positive. Instead they:

• Dwell and obsess about the future
• Compare themselves to others around them or perhaps, people they don’t know but admire
• Become dissatisfied about their ability to manage their time
• Lose hope in their potential
• Expect the worse in people because they have had a number of set-backs or disappointments throughout the year
• Become absorbed in negative thinking
• Expect that they should be ‘thinking’ differently by now, not thinking the same as they did the year before.

A great way to counteract this thought process, is to change the way you think about the year that has past and what is in store for the future.

• Forget resolutions and focus on accomplishments
• Sleep and rest when you need to. Remember that you can climb any mountain if you have enough rest and your body is prepared for it
• Get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. Breathe in fresh air, spend time with nature and stay away from spending too much time in front of your computer screens
• Reconnect with relationships that matter and the people that matter in your life. Spend those precious moments sharing a laugh or doing something you love
• “Stand up and walk out of your history” Dr Phil. Forget about the past and focus on the future.
• Drink lots of water

Many people start putting together their list for their new years resolution.

1.              Lose weight
2.              Get organised
3.              Spend less, save more
4.              Live life to the fullest
5.              Be fit and healthy
6.              Learn something: a language etc
7.              Help others by being more charitable
8.              Fall in love
9.              Spend more time with friends and family
10.            Conquer a fear or something that you wanted to do but haven’t

They say it takes 28 days to form a new habit or break an old one. Given that 75 per cent of people fail to achieve their new year’s resolutions within 5 days of making them – it’s harder than it looks to break a habit.

45 per cent of Americans have new years resolutions that mainly centre on self-improvement, money, relationships and weight. Only 14 per cent of people over 50 years old achieve them. Not the best statistic if you are looking for change.

This year, think differently. Think about what you have accomplished and celebrate that first – then make a new years resolution. If you find it hard to keep a new year’s resolution then focus only on one. Give yourself 28 days to get it right.

Good luck!