If you feel like your life is in disarray and you’re struggling to get things back on track, don’t wait until the next year to make a change. You can reset your life right now by following a key improv technique and setting actionable goals.
Don’t wait for the calendar page to flip to a new year before you decide to get your life together
I really did think of 100 ways why you shouldn’t throw in the towel for this year yet. Like I thought of 100 ways to have this conversation about why I think you should really care about the rest of the year. And you know what, I realized it doesn’t matter what I think, so let’s talk about what you think.
If you think that you need to wait until the new year to make your life better, this is your wake-up call.
You can make decisions and actions now that make your life better. So why would you wait?
If your life is on hold for the next few months, that’s just heartbreaking, heartbreaking to see you holding out and waiting for a flip of a calendar page before you decide that you’re gonna take action to make your life more meaningful and to bring more accomplishments and peace into your life.
So let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about how you can make your life, reset your life and make it better right now, here and now, not waiting until January. Because this year is precious and your life is precious, and don’t flippin’ wait, please don’t wait.
Reset Your Year
Let’s start with a simple exercise on resetting. If you’re happy with where you are right now, you can skip this step. However, if you want to make a change, stand up, plant your feet, and tell yourself, “I am going to be fully present in my life for the rest of this year.” Then do a 360, come back to where you are, and know that you’re taking action to ensure that the rest of your year involves you fully.
Yes-and: An Improv Hack
So after you’ve reset your year, we know that you’re going to be fully present in the rest of your year. Let’s talk about some things that you can do.
One of the things in theatre is, especially improv, is this yes-and mentality. “Yes, this happened but” (BUT instead of but say and) “and here’s where we’re going from there”. So an actor in improv may be thrown a scenario from their acting peer and maybe they don’t like what it is (but they accept it) so they say “yes-and” they then go on to decide and describe what to do next. So let’s yes, and your life. “Yes, 2020 gave you things that you did not expect. 2020 brought you (__X___) and, you are going to dust yourself off and have a solid last quarter”.
So for 2020, you thought you were doing awesome stuff, and then you ended up doing something unexpected. (Just like in improv) But there’s always something that came from it, so as a result of that. So if you can say,
My 3-5-2-1 Strategy
Three Things
Pick 3 things that you have gained as a result of your unexpected 2020 life
“Here’s where 2020 led me and because of that, these three things came from it.” list
Five Things
Pick 5 things that you could do to make this year better for you.
Whether it’s, it could be anything from cleaning to organizing to setting alarms to hiring some help around the house to having conversations and reaching out to other people.
There’s a million things that you could put on that brainstorming list. But if you really think, “If I want to fully participate in my life for the rest of this year and be present and make this a meaningful last part of the year for me, these are the five things I’m going to do, I could possibly do.”
So put those on a list.
Two Things
Of those 5, pick 2 of them that you will actually do.
So what two things are you going to do? Write ’em down. What are the two things? And then, I want to break it down a little bit further.
One Thing
Break down the first step that you need to do for each of those 2 things and go do it!
Maybe there’s a phone call you need to make or maybe there’s research you need to do or you set the time to do something. So what’s the very first step that you can do for that one thing?
If you don’t like something, change it.
~ Maya Angelou
If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
3-5-2-1 Highlights:
- Reset yourself if needed
- Use the “yes-and” mentality
- Pick 3 things that you have gained as a result of your unexpected 2020 life
- Pick 5 things that you could do to make this year better for you
- Of those 5, pick 2 of them that you will actually do
- Break down the first step that you need to do for each of those 2 things and go do it!
The Whole Flow
3 – 5 -2 – 1 Start
Okay, so you thought,
“Here’s my 2020. I was living my life and thought it was going great and all plans were gung ho 100%, and then, X,” big wacky thing that happened in your life or multiple things.
“And then, as a result of that, this is the three things that I got from it.” And it could be that you learned skills that you didn’t have. It could be that you really slowed down. There could be so many things.
And then, “Here’s what I’m gonna do about it. Here’s the five things that I really think I can do to make the rest of my year rich and that I’m present for it.
And then from there, what two things am I actually going to do?” And then, Here’s the first step I’m taking,
Now go do that first step. Start where you are & just go do it!
Don’t wait until the next year to make a change. You can reset your life right now and finish 2020 proud. Your life is precious, and you can make decisions and take actions now to make it better. So go ahead and reset your year, set clear goals, and take quick action to make your life easier and more meaningful today!
~ Cathy
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Feature photo by Cathy Ferringo
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