How To Close Your 2019 Year

As the year winds down to a close, the temptation is to slow down.

And it can be easy to forget that a new year full of plentiful opportunities is about to begin!

As we move into the holiday season, it’s also the season for businesses to close their books for the year.

Businesses close their books to make sure that all the financial information about their business is accurate and entered correctly.

For a business, it is an opportunity to get it right before preparing final annual financial statements and corporate taxes.

As we draw our year to a close, what can we learn from business and their year-end closing process?

Let’s define precisely what is meant by a year-end close.

In business, it is an accounting procedure to close out business from the previous year, carry forward balances of the prior year, and open posting accounts for the upcoming year. 

Annual Operations

The Year-end close is part of a company’s annual closing operations.

It is used to generate the company’s financial statements.

Effectively, the business will review their year to set themselves up for the next year. 

And we could learn from business and apply our own year-end closing operation because we must keep going. 

The close of the year does not mean that we stop doing what we are doing.

In fact, we should accelerate if we can. 

That means make that extra call. 

Ask for the sale one more time. 

Offer an additional product or service. 

Aim to finish the year strong, so you maintain your momentum into the next year. 

Remember your physics lessons, it is much easier to keep moving than to stop and then start.

All we have to do is to keep going. 

If we stop or slow down, we have to accelerate again next year. 

That is more work.

And it is hard work to get moving again.

Go even faster

Put your foot on the accelerator now. 

As 2019 winds to a close, go even faster.

To make sure 2020 gets off to a fun and enlightening start, let’s look at all the influences of our 2019 experiences.

What were the books, movies, and other media that made an impact on you?

What did they inspire in you?

Did you remember to capture that inspiration so you can shape it into new goals for yourself?

That’s what the year-end close is all about, reviewing your year to give you great insights.

Task 1

What went right?

This part is fun, and it motivates you to keep going.

Trust me, you will be astonished when you realise what you did accomplish.

If you are struggling, get in contact, and I will give you tips to guide you through exactly how to trigger these memories to learn what you did, how you were inspired, and what themes you want to carry forward…themes you might never have noticed before.

Task 2

What went wrong?

This is an honest assessment of things that didn’t go right over the past year.

Guess what?

This is good news!

You don’t have to do it again!

Doing a year-end close helps you avoid repeating things that don’t work for you.

Task 3

What can you learn about yourself?

How can you improve your life in the next year?

This is what we call “collecting the pay” from your year.

You work on improving yourself all year.

Doing this year-end close means that you actually learn from that experience, giving you a solid foundation for levelling up in 2020.

I hope you’ll join me and do what may be the most rewarding activity of the year, a comprehensive review of our year, setting ourselves up to make the most of 2020.

The end of the year marks an exciting crossroads, AND You have a few paths forward:

PATH A: 

Dig yourself deeper for the next few week more procrastinating and missing targets, passing all responsibility to

“Future You.”

Magically hope that Future You will have all sorts of additional free time and motivation to achieve your goals.

I do not recommend Path A. It never works. Ever.

 

PATH B: 

Do your best and figure things out on your own.

This works for MOST people and is a fantastic path for somebody that can self-motivate and keep themselves accountable. 

(I think Path B is excellent for most!)

PATH C: 

Work with a pro that is really good at this stuff, and start 2020 with a crazy amount of momentum rather than dread! 

(Path C is an excellent fit for the right person!)

As you might know, our mentoring program has helped thousands of clients transform.

You can find more details here.

Related Articles:

How To Build Resilience, Your Competitive Advantage

Make Creativity Your Superpower

Build the Courage to Achieve Anything

Be A Flexible And Accurate Thinker

Resilience requires flexible and accurate thinking and the ability to see differing perspectives.

Flexible and accurate thinking allows you to find multiple solutions to a problem. 

We know how life is full of unexpected detours and roadblocks, so being able to develop alternative plans is a vital aspect of resilience.

This is backed up by research from Albert Ellis, Karen Reivich, Martin Seligman and others that show it’s your thoughts that drive your emotions and reactions to a specific event. 

Our ability to assess a situation accurately is influenced by our thinking traps, our core values and deeply held beliefs, and our downward spiral thinking.

When we know how to identify these factors that interfere with our accuracy, we will build self-awareness and a more realistic thinking style.

Click the image to download the full infographic

“Thinking is more interesting than knowing but less interesting than looking”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Every situation we encounter bears at least a million different intricacies to consider and as many or more memories to compare them to. 

We would have to process a vast amount of information to make a completely accurate judgment of any event.

That is something we are just not capable of. 

That is why two people are highly likely to feel differently about the same event.

Simply because one highlights and focuses on different pieces of the available information than the other. 

Mindset

Much of this is dictated by mindset.

Someone with a more positive mindset will concentrate on specific aspects of a situation that someone with a more negative mindset will not.

But neither of them is necessarily in the wrong. 

Wanting to adopt a more positive mindset doesn’t mean you have to lie to yourself or get brainwashed.

What it does mean is that you have to focus on different aspects of the situation selectively.

Your state of mind determines how you predict future events and also, how you evaluate events as they are happening. 

These two factors work symbiotically to reinforce each other.

Our predictions about the future are derived from the information we have stored about past experiences. 

When compared to pessimists, optimists tend to evaluate their daily events from a more positive perspective.

This means they are continuously creating positive memories and beliefs to influence their predictions. 

The cycle perpetuates itself

You can see how this cycle works.

The more optimistic the outlook, the more positive evaluation of daily events, the more positive the memories, and the more positive the expectations about the future.

And it continues to perpetuate itself.

And good predictions are priceless, the act of expecting an event to happen makes it much more likely that it will happen.

In other words, if choosing between an optimistic belief and a pessimistic belief, know that the optimistic one will usually lead to measurably better outcomes.

Because optimists make more positive predictions, they are more likely to be successful than pessimists.

Which means they have the opportunity to store even more positive memories and reinforce better beliefs.

There is an easy way to become more positive.

Start now to evaluate events as they happen from a better and more positive perspective.

That way, you slowly build up more positive memories and beliefs.

We evaluate events according to three dimensions: 

1. Internal or External 

Whether we think the event was inside our control (Internal) or outside our control (External). 

1. Stable or Unstable 

Whether we think similar events in the future will turn out like this (Stable) or are subject to more variable factors (Unstable).

1. Specific or Global 

Whether we generalise it to other events (Global) or keep it specific to this event (Specific).

Not surprisingly, optimists and pessimists tend to use different combinations of these three dimensions to explain events.

An optimist who just failed an exam might think: 

“I did the best I could (external).

I’m sure I’ll do better in my other exams (unstable).

And this was just a blip (specific)”.

Instead, a pessimist is more likely to think: 

“I am so dumb (internal).

There is no hope I am going to fail all of my exams (stable).

And I will never graduate or find a career (global)”. 

Of course, other combinations are possible.

Consider these as the best and worst-case explanatory styles to explain a negative event like failing an exam. 

Massive impact

How you evaluate the events in your life has a massive impact on you.

When you evaluate life events as internal/stable/global the impact of the event is intensified, rather than minimised.

That will have more significance to you and your life than if you evaluate it as external/unstable/specific which tends to brush the event away. 

Optimists tend to apply the first combination (internal/stable/global) to positive events and the second one (external/unstable/specific) to negative events.

The optimistic model is to not let negative events affect them too much and emphasise the meaning of positive events. 

Unsurprisingly, pessimists do the opposite. 

When pessimists ace an exam, they are still likely to use the worst-case explanatory style.

“The questions were easy anyone could have passed (external), I got lucky this time (unstable), with my luck this will never happen again (specific). 

Compare that to the best-case evaluation.

One that influences your predictions in the most positive way and gives you the most confidence.

“I deserve this A+ grade because I studied hard and I am good at this (internal).

My next exams will turn out just as well as long as I put the time in (stable). I am confident about my abilities, and I know I will be successful in the future (global).”

The most realistic explanatory style

So, what is the most realistic explanatory style? 

Two of the dimensions have a clear objective alternative: unstable rather than stable and specific rather than global. 

If you explain events in unstable and specific terms, you concentrate your evaluation on this event only.

You don’t generalise.

This means for all negative events, the optimistic explanatory style is the more objective and realistic one. 

If you explain events in stable and global terms, you generalise your evaluation of this event to future events.

“And this is the rubbish that I can expect from now on.”

Taking all of that into account you would be led to believe that for positive events pessimists would, strictly speaking, be more objective.

However, that is not the case.

This is where the self-fulfilling prophecy comes in.

If you generalise positive experiences they will influence your beliefs more and improve your future predictions.

All it takes is to choose to evaluate positive experiences as more meaningful and exemplary. 

When you do that your generalisations will eventually become reality.

Thinking is hard work

I am not telling you that this will be easy.

Thinking is hard work. 

Let’s take a moment to realise how amazing you are.

What you’re doing right now is quite extraordinary. 

You’re taking a series of squiggly black lines and extracting meaning from them.

No other creature can do that like you can. 

And you can probably achieve it with relative ease.

You see the words in front of you and process them in an instant, never thinking of the words themselves, only what they represent.

Remember that time when it wasn’t always easy to read?

It might be ages ago, but when you were first learning to read, you would have had to put a lot of effort into it. 

Unusual words would have been obstacles.

You would have stumbled, concentrating on the individual letters and how they are pronounced. 

It’s impressive just how far you’ve come.

Most learning follow this trajectory.

You learn and that learning requires effort. But the knowledge you form afterwards becomes easier to use. 

We have all been a student of life for many few years now.

We have picked up many skills along the way.

Think about it, we can read, talk, walk, use cutlery, brush our teeth, and all with little effort. 

Most of our daily activities can be done while we are entirely detached from the activity itself.

This is pretty darn incredible.

What’s more, you probably have unique skills and knowledge that most people don’t have.

Maybe you have an interest in math or physics or math, cooking, or psychology. 

Your thoughts make you YOU.

Your mind is like your fingerprint, it’s yours and only yours.

You are a unique mixture of abilities, concepts, facts and memories.

Your thoughts make you YOU.

But you had to work to get here.

You had to work to become you. 

And, you’ll have to work to become your future self, too. 

And you will only undertake that work if you see the benefits of doing it.

Learning is refining the mind, making it more accurate, efficient, and versatile. 

As beneficial as it may be, learning isn’t always a pleasant experience.

To become our future self requires some discomfort.

New Year’s Resolutions to Boss Your 2020

Many of us make New Year’s Resolutions in the wind up to New Year’s Eve, and then by the end of February, they are long forgotten.

The most common broken resolutions are to get out of debt, lose weight, quit smoking, and be more relaxed.

According to a University of Scranton survey, around 45% of people make New Year’s resolutions.

However, only 8% will accomplish them.

A common reason we fail to accomplish our resolutions is because we set goals that are almost impossible to reach.

The truth is, many of us still have to become the person that is capable of achieving our audacious goals.

This is not the time to give up hope!

Instead, in the coming year, we can focus on the tangible actions that will bring us closer to achieving our New Year’s resolutions.  

Here’s a list of 13 action-packed resolutions we can use to transform each one of us into that person who makes their dreams come true:

1. Make a new friend each month

Human connection with others is one of the most important aspects of being human.

And having friends increases our sense of well-being.

Commit to getting to know an acquaintance, a co-worker’s family, or join a meet-up group for a hobby that you are interested in.

2. Do something nice on a daily basis

It can range from something small like paying someone a compliment to something significant like giving blood.

Knowing we are making a difference increases our own happiness and sense of achievement.

Commit to being the person that makes others feel special.

3. Let go of needing to be right

Everyone can learn from opening our minds and genuinely listening to what other people have to offer.

Practising humility is a sure way to change our need to be right and prove others wrong.

Practising humility does not mean that we have to accept their beliefs and ideas.

When we have true confidence in our own choices, we don’t have to prove anything.

Commit to keeping an open mind.

4. Save a little more

Most of us don’t have a pension fund or a substantial sum of money in our bank accounts.

Making automatic investments is a small step we can make to remedy this problem.

When we receive a bonus or pay increase, we can put that money into our savings.

It’s easier to invest that money when we don’t have to think about it and when it’s automatically taken out.

Commit to making sure that a portion of our salary is deposited into a savings account and/or pension fund each pay period.

5. Change your retail habits

Shopping is a difficult pleasure to give up for many of us.

Instead, look at where you are spending the most money and then limit your shopping to those places.

When making a purchase, opt for quality over price.

Good quality items last longer and will not need to be replaced as frequently as a lower-cost one.

Other great ideas include using coupons or discount codes and go thrift and consignment shopping.

Commit to spending less and saving more.

6. Start a new routine

How boring to do the same thing every day. But that is what we typically do.

What can you add to your daily routine to make it more fresh and exciting?

It doesn’t have to be anything drastic, it can be something as simple as changing your route to work or reading five pages of a book each morning.

Commit to adding something new to your daily routines.

7. Avoid elephant traps

If we want to be more productive in 2020, we can start by putting away our phones and closing the internet browser on our computers.

The vast majority of text messages, e-mails, phone calls, and social media updates can wait.

This discipline gets us focused on our essential tasks and limit our tendency towards procrastination.

Commit to focusing on the important and not urgent.

8. Do something on your bucket list

Doing one new thing each year of our lives from now until we die, will have lead to us living an incredibly fulfilled life.

Let’s prepare to scuba dive with tropical fish, climb that mountain all the way to the summit, go tandem skydiving, or mentor an at-risk youths.

Commit to doing one new thing each year for the rest of your life.

9. Turn off technology

It’s a beneficial idea to turn off our phones while at important meetings, while we are sleeping while spending time with someone, or when trying to focus on being productive.

Our phones are a more significant distraction than we will ever admit to.

While we’re playing on our phones, life is passing us by.

Commit to being fully present.

10. Start journaling

We all have feelings, thoughts, and things that make us happy, but many of us commit the mistake of sharing it all on Twitter or Facebook.

The best thing to do would be to start a journal.

It’s private to you, it’s easy to re-read and reflect on, and it doesn’t offer unsolicited advice for our problems.

Commit to journaling your thoughts and feelings daily.

11. Believe that obstacles are part of the plan

Life isn’t easy.

The challenges we have to overcome in life serve to develop us and assist us in personal growth.

Each hardship we go through shapes us into a stronger, more resilient person.

Commit to trusting that whatever we are going through is part of a bigger plan instead of resisting and attempting to control the order of life.

 

12. Speak to yourself kindly

Surely, we can try to be our own best friends each day?

The best friend that gives ourselves empowering compliments.

The next time we let a negative thought fester in our thinking, let’s take a moment to consider what our friends would say about us.

It is only when we learn to treat and speak to ourselves more kindly that we become better partners too!

Commit to talking to yourself as if you were talking to a valued friend.

 

13. Get to know yourself

What qualities do we express when we are the best version of ourselves?

And what qualities at our worst?

What brings out the best in us?

And what brings out the worst in us?

What can we do to avoid situations that bring out our worst qualities?

Commit to determining your strengths and weaknesses and see how your character traits are best used for success.

To boss your 2020 you need to act on your resolutions and here you have thirteen to get you started.

If you make a resolution commit to accomplishing it. Choose to be amongst that elite 8% who accomplish their resolutions.

This year, focus on the tangible actions that will bring you closer to achieving our New Year’s resolutions.

Do that and you will transform yourself into that person who makes their dreams come true.

Related Articles:

How To Build Resilience, Your Competitive Advantage

Make Creativity Your Superpower

Build the Courage to Achieve Anything