It Takes a Lot More Than Enthusiasm to Make Those Lofty New Year's Resolutions Reality Use these five tips to focus, and make 2016 truly your best year ever.
By Matt Mayberry Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
During this time of the year -- every single year -- we start hearing about everyone's New Year's resolutions, and how the upcoming fresh start is exactly what they need in order to make this their best year yet. While the enthusiasm and intentions are great, most people still start off strong in developing new habits and working towards new goals and dreams but end up still living the next nine months at the same level they have lived the past five years.
To truly live your best year ever, a whole lot more than enthusiasm and good intentions will be needed. Here are five ways to help set yourself up for a massively successful 2016.
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1. Expand your vision.
The first line of business that needs to happen in order to set yourself up for a massively successful 2016 is to expand your vision. Vision is what ignites action, and action is what creates results. See yourself beyond your current circumstances and, most importantly, see yourself living the massively successful year that you want to live. It's one thing to have a vision for something that you desire in your heart, but it's another to actually see yourself executing. Everything great in history has started with a phenomenal vision. Start today creating a powerful and compelling vision for yourself.
2. Discover the incredible power of goal-setting.
The ability to take an idea and put it down on paper as a goal that I desperately wanted to achieve while then coming up with a detailed game-plan on how to make it become a reality has completely transformed my life -- and the same can happen for you. I personally don't believe in New Year's resolutions, I believe in setting meaningful goals that get you excited about waking up everyday of your life and then creating a plan of action on how to achieve that goal.
Having a wish list, resolution or goals that are stored in your head aren't good enough. Having a massively successful 2016 is going to require you spending some time setting meaningful and powerful goals for yourself and then formulating your plan of attack on how it is all going to come together.
3. Find the person that you have to become.
Not paying attention to how you actually need to transform into the person you need to become is one of the major factors that plays into why so many fall short in the pursuit of achieving some big goals. You are going to need to instill new habits, learn new skills and develop a new philosophy on life in order to make 2016 unlike any other year you had in the past.
After you get clear on your vision and set your goals for 2016, I encourage you to pay close attention and analyze the type of man or woman that you have to become in order to make all of it come true.
Related: 9 New Year's Resolutions for Every Entrepreneur
4. Develop your personal growth plan.
The above three points are all incredibly important, but if you don't work hard on yourself and intentionally look to grow as a human being in 2016, then it's nearly impossible to live your best life and year. Growing to become the best version of yourself doesn't happen automatically. The best of the best know when they are going to grow, how they are going to grow, and why they are going to grow. It's important that your personal growth plan fits your needs and works best for you, not what works best for someone else. Let 2016 be the year of massive growth for you.
5. Look to upgrade your relationships.
Besides our own thinking and habits, nothing has the potential to affect our ability to become all that we possibly can be more than our relationships and who we associate with on a daily basis. Each and every year around this time, I take a close look at the relationships that I have and analyze if they are helping me get to where I want to go or derailing the process.
Some of my biggest breakthroughs in life have come from letting go of the dead weight in my life that wasn't contributing to my overall vision. Besides letting go of the dead weight in your life, make it a major priority of yours to seek out mentors who are doing what you want to do or that can help you along the way.
I truly hope that 2016 is your best year yet, and that these five ideas can help contribute to a massively successful year for you. With consistency, perseverance and an incredible amount of self-belief -- you can without a doubt achieve anything you want.
Related: 8 Toxic Types of People You Should Keep Out of Your Life
