My last article for 2018! Previously I shared my travel highlights and my personal journey of these past 12 months. Again following in the same vain throughout the year, I will continue to give without intention. With my closing thoughts this year I want to talk about freedom.

Freedom

Who doesn’t love to be free. Many determine their own version of freedom, be it financial, professional, personal or even something as small as some alone time for an hour or so. In essence then It’s irrelevant to talk about what kind of freedom you, I, or someone else should aspire to. The important thing is to be free and work towards being free. Why? Purely for the happiness you get in return. This may seem fluffy, but I truly believe if you are not doing things that make you happy, directly or indirectly, then what’s the point. Took me a while for me personally to realise this, however it was only upon reflecting on the year gone by I figured out that’s what I’ve been doing to some extent. Now let’s optimise and take to the next level.

Goals and Tactics

Naturally then we need some goals to attain our freedom. However are goals enough? I used to set a load of goals, many of which simply did not materialise. I realised although I set out goals, great I had a vision, but I didn’t really put much thought on how to actually attain. One recent clear example; one of my goals is to do public speaking. When I shared this with a friend, she quite naturally asked about what. I didn’t know what to say, because quite simply I didn’t think that far. This would have been another goal casualty. So instead next year I have limited myself in goals and decided to focus more on adhering to rules instead. Actually I will call them tactics, because I’m the kind of bad boy rebel that hates following rules. Allow me to share a few of my tactics.

Being grateful

Every day in the morning I will spend three minutes thinking of the things I am grateful for in my life. This will help clear my mind ready to focus and make it happen. Three minutes may seem very quick but I assure you it’s actually goes slower than you think.

Not fighting for balance

Read any self help guide and or advice forum, the one thing always recommended is try and find balance. Yes you need some kind of balance in your life, you can’t just say screw it and magically everything will be fine! However I will be taking a different approach next year, instead of fighting for balance in my life, I.e. trying to equalise every aspect in my life, I will be focusing on my tactics instead of this being a tactic in itself. I’ve realised trying to attain equality in everything lasted for such a short time, before slowly evolving into chaos.

Game plan

I mentioned earlier my public speaking goal, so in turn I need a game plan. I wrote about the importance of having a game plan earlier this year. So why stop doing something that works. This will continue to be my overarching tactic professionally and personally.

Be Authentic

I asked a few senior colleagues what would be your single piece of advice to me. My favourite was this, be authentic in whatever you do. If you’re truly authentic, success will come. I so love this.

Have fun

I said this last year and I will say it again. Do not undermine the importance of this. Don’t be afraid to stop time for a little and enjoy yourself. A lot of unexpected gems come out of having fun as a result.

The Last Word

Looking back on this article, to the people who know me, the above may seem a little woolly. However look behind that and there is an incredible amount of substance to be found. However this is only if you sit down and put the work in. Would love to hear your thoughts on the above, your year and what your plan is for next year. For now though, to all of you, have an awesome New Year! Here’s to 2019, let’s make it happen, we can do this! Peace & Love.