I’m sure we can think of at least someone who reflected on 2016 and now bears great hope and expectation for 2017. The shocking news is that the success/compliance rate for new year’s resolutions is really low – just 9.2% – according to a study of 1562 individuals.

Thing is, if you want 2017 to be unlike any other year, you would need to push yourself and do things you have never done before.

If you want easy and comfortable advice, go speak to your mum. If not, here’s how to crush it in 2017.

1. Finish what you have started

Too many people love starting things – myself included.

You feel so enthused and excited and can’t wait to see your idea take off. So you think about it and work on it day and night for the first few days, until you start hitting bumps along the road. You get knocked back and you start to get fatigued.

Soon enough, you start questioning yourself and your motives.

At this point in time, many would have thrown in the towel, convinced themselves that “they have given it their best” and it was no longer worth fighting for.

One of the biggest things that pushed me to finish writing my first book was the fact that even if I had written 99% of a book, I still didn’t have a book.

There’s nothing until you finish it.

2. Give and add value

Humans are wired to be inclined towards self-preservation and self-interest. In other words, we tend to care more about ourselves than anything/anyone else.

Flip that around.

Stop following the self-obsessed crowd and start thinking beyond yourself.

See the bigger picture and see how you can add more value and contribute.

In my previous keynote address to Kaplan Business School’s alumnus, I mentioned that nobody pays the person who complains about the economy, but people will pay the person who can make the economy better.

Don’t just describe the problem, prescribe a solution.

The person who offers solutions and adds value always has leverage in all situations.

3. Bite off more than you can chew

Learn to start punching above your own weight. If not, how do you expect yourself to grow?

The only way to discover what you are truly capable of is to truly push yourself past your limits. Besides, do the limits really exist?

Most of the time, the biggest and only thing limiting you is yourself – what you deem is acceptable.

If you think that your maximum is meeting 5 clients/day, then that will be your maximum.

If you think that your best at this subject is a B-grade, then that will be your ceiling.

If you think that she is out of your league, then she will remain out of your league.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone and start playing a bigger game. You would then start to realise how exciting and adventurous life can truly be when you go all in, all the time.

4. Do what you are afraid of

If you run away from your fears, you will always be on the run.

Face the fear, do what you need to do, and you would overcome the fear once and for all.

One of the best ways to overcome your fears is to starve it of time – by executing right away.

If you are scared of what a client might say, pick up the phone and be the one to call him first.

If you are scared of your exam results, rip the envelope right away.

If you are scared of giving that speech to a hundred or a thousand people, get up, head on to the stage and start speaking.

5. Invest in yourself significantly

You are your best asset.

Think of yourself not only as a person, but also as a tool, an instrument, a weapon.

Gordon Ramsey said that the one thing more dangerous than a sharp knife in a kitchen, is a blunt one.

Sharpen and develop yourself.

The worst time to learn a skill is when you need it.

You want to be so well trained, equipped and developed that you are able to be the first responder when opportunity presents itself.

6. Push past the pain

Most people quit when the going gets tough. Most people give up when things get rough.

What about you?

I challenge you to keep going even at times when you feel like crap, feel like giving up, feel like retreating to your little bubble, feel like reverting back to the way things were, etc.

Those who succeed are the ones who decide to keep pressing on even when everything else seems to be falling apart.

7. Be proactive and be on the offence

Are you the lion or the gazelle?

The lion has to just outrun the slowest gazelle, but the gazelle has to outrun the fastest lion.

Face your issues, fears, goals, aspirations and challenges head on.

Deal with them and attack them before they come knocking on your door.

If you are maintaining the status quo, you have to get it right all the time, if not your world crumbles. But if you are pushing for breakthrough and innovation, you just have to get it right once, and the entire game changes.

8. Make your reason bigger than the resistance

The truth is that life is full of challenges as well as opportunities.

You will face resistance, obstacles and challenges.

You might stuff up along the way. People might be skeptical of your ideas. You may run into the wall several times and look foolish.

However, the key is not to reduce the goal. It is about fanning the fire inside of you.

When your reason is bigger than the resistance you face, you would go all the way to get things done. When the purpose is greater than the pain, you would do whatever it takes to make things happen.

What are you fighting for? Why are you doing this? What keeps you up at night and gets you up in the morning?

9. Hang out with the elite

Your network determines your net worth. You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

If you spend enough time with 5 entrepreneurs, you would become the 6th.

If you spend enough time with 5 athletes, you would become the 6th.

If you spend enough time with 5 geeks, you would become the 6th.

If you spend enough time with 5 idiots, you would become the 6th.

Who are you spending time with?

Are the people you are hanging out with elevating you, maintaining the status quo, or bringing you down?

If you want to attain the next level of success, you need to hang out with people who are already playing a bigger game. That’s why I make the time to pick the brains of CEOs, athletes, Olympians, military operators, business people and entrepreneurs.

10. Watch who you get your advice from

A hospital patient shouldn’t get health advice from other patients. It doesn’t make sense! If he wants to attain a higher level of success (i.e. health), he needs to speak to the doctor. Not the patients.

Too many people take advice from other “patients”.

I see aspiring entrepreneurs who listen to their uncle who has never started his own business.

I hear about people who want to attain financial abundance and independence listen to their friends who live paycheck to paycheck or who can’t even afford to pay their rent.

If you want to get fit, don’t listen to a fat person.

If you want to get rich, don’t listen to a poor person.

If you want to crush your goals, don’t listen to a lazy couch potato.

There, I said it! Someone has to say it – there’s no doubt about it.

Make sure you get your advice from people who have achieved that level of success which you are striving to attain.

And stop wasting time listening and entertaining the mediocre cynics, skeptics and naysayers. You deserve better!

~~~~~

Have a great and remarkable 2017. I wish you unprecedented levels of success in this new year. Remember that success is your duty, mission, service and commitment to others and to the world around you.

Go for gold!

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