How to Set Yourself Up to End the Year Strong

“If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra

With Labor Day behind us, it is time to start planning for the final four months of the year. Are you where you expected to be when the year started? What do you need to do get closer to your goals? I find that this time of year is best to evaluate what you’ve accomplished and start planning for the future. There is no reason to let the year pass you by if you haven’t lived up to your own expectations. Three areas that I’m currently evaluating are my health, my relationships, and my career.

Health

When I look at my health, I consider nutrition, exercise, mental, and spiritual health. It can be hard to stay on top of these, but I am shooting for 80% compliance. For nutrition, I ask myself basic questions such as: Am I eating enough greens? How do I feel after a meal? How much alcohol am I drinking? For the most part, I do a pretty good job of eating well and only drinking a couple of times a week, but over the past couple of months, I don’t think I’ve done as good of a job. For the next month, we are planning on cooking more at home and only drinking one night a week. Hey, I love college football and it is nice to have a beer watching my Tide play.

For exercise, I’ve battled a back injury on and off for the past couple of months and my goal is to get back to 100%. I haven’t been able to lift heavy weight and plan to start back in the next month. I started a new sport this summer, jiu-jitsu, and I plan to keep learning and stick to a beginners mindset. I am going to keep my ego out of it and learn as much as I can. I am also working a lot on mobility and plan to keep that as a main focus going forward. It is amazing how much better a supple body makes you feel.

The mental and spiritual aspects are almost one in the same for me. I ask myself: Am I keeping up with my morning routine of gratitude, journaling, and breathwork? Am I continuing to read books and setting apart time for learning? What is my self-talk like? Am I contributing to society in a positive way? I can improve on all of these areas over the next few months. My self-talk has not been as positive as it should be lately and I am working hard on turning that around. One way is to find more opportunities to help others and not get too hung up on myself.

Relationships

Every year I set standards for how I want to show up in my relationships. I have not been as present as I would like to be and have not been reaching out to friends and families as I should. I still have trouble putting my phone away. This is something I will continue to work on and make a priority for the rest of the year. I also need to see my family more and plan to set time aside to do this. We can get so caught up in what is going on with work and the day to day of life that we don’t give the people who love us near enough attention.

Career

This is an area where I feel there is always room to grow. As I begin this journey as an entrepreneur, there are never enough hours in the day it feels like. I am having to learn a lot of new skills, such as marketing and sales. Coming from a somewhat analytical background, this is by far the hardest part for me. I am thankful to have friends and mentors helping me along the way.

With Symmetry, I am working to reach as many people as I can.  What I learned through XPT and others changed my life.  I believe in the methods and know it can help a lot of people. That is my purpose for this company. For the rest of the year and beyond, I will continue to refine my craft and show people how powerful connecting with your breath can be. It seems so simple, but sometimes simple is exactly what our body and mind need.

To Sum it Up

Now is the time to evaluate your goals and objectives for the year.  Take a look at the important areas of your life, decide how you would like to improve them and start formulating a plan.  Most people will continue to go through the motions for the rest of the year.  Don't be most people.  We all started the year with high hopes, if you haven't lived up to yours you still have time to make changes.  It is all in your control.

Call To Action

If you enjoyed this post, check out my website www.symmetry.live to learn more about how I can help change your relationship with stress. I also write a weekly newsletter called The Long Game. It is for people that want to grow and challenge themselves. It is about the drive to better ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually while having the curiosity to enjoy the journey.