Now I know
that it doesn't seem like it in practice but a year is a very long time in
which to improve. The main areas that I typically look to improve in are:
· Wealth
· Health
· Relationships
· Education/job
· Hobbies and activities
Looking back
I realise that although I am always conscious of these areas, and I have made improvements , the progress made in each area is disappointingly small.
You may have
experienced a similar feeling; we all put in a lot of effort but there is not actually that much to show for it when you look at it
retrospectively.
We’re always busy aren’t we?
We’re always busy aren’t we?
What have you achieved in the last week that you will remember 12 months
from now?
How to get better at something quickly
In 2008,
when I had left school I decided I wanted to go travelling with my best friend.
We met up and sat down to organise our trip. After a few hours of trawling
through an endless number of amazing trips we finally decided on the one we
wanted to take. It was a 6 week trip across southern Africa, a two week trip up
the East Coast of Australia and then a 6 week scuba diving tour of Fiji.
I know…, it
was as expensive as it sounds. We spent the whole trip apart from 1 night in
hostels and under canvas and it still cost over £9000; which for a couple
straight out of school was a huge amount of money.
However we
were determined to go, and thanks to the generosity of our parents letting us
live for free at home we managed to save the money. In that year I became a
master of economy. I had almost no disposable income as essentially all of my
meagre earnings were going to travel agents. However somehow I managed to
have one of the most fun years of my life.
I didn’t make
any progress in education working at Waitrose, I also didn’t make any
improvement in my health exercising my newly found right to drink alcohol 2-3
nights per week. I didn’t really make any new friends or get into any new
hobbies, but I was well in control of my wealth.
How not to improve quickly:
You will
have heard the phrase ‘Jack of all trades’, which is generally used to describe
someone who is competent in many disciplines.
“The Jack of all trades seldom is
any good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim” – Napoleon Hill
The problem I seem to be suffering
from is taking on too much at once. I am becoming a Jack of self-improvement.
My ambition is to master all of the above areas of my life all in one go and it
just isn’t realistic.
We are creatures of habit, and
the effort required to change one deeply ingrained routine is sometimes massive.
So how can anyone expect great results in all aspects of their life at once?
It is tempting to aim to improve evenly
in all endeavours, so as to promote a balanced life. But you are not really
working on everything at once. You are just focussing on things in tiny cycles.
Why not instead of aiming to balance out your week, balance out your decades?
At the end you will still be a
very balanced person, but you will be a much higher achiever than if you
attempted everything at once.
I would much rather accept my
limitations and box up most of my plans, leaving just one to focus on. Fitness Goals
This problem applies very neatly to fitness. Most people would rather be stronger, faster, fitter, more bigger and leaner all at the same time, but in practice it is best to focus on one main priority at a time and leave the rest until later.
SO the question is which of my listed areas do I focus on in 2014?
Next week I’ll talk about why being a Jack of all trades is
a great trait. After all it worked for Leonardo Da Vinci!
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