3 Keys To Making This Your Best Year Ever

You want the coming new year to be your best year ever. What are the most important factors to ensure that's what happens?

3 Crucial Keys To

Surprisingly, focusing on just 3 factors can dramatically improve your chances of making the coming year the best you have ever experienced. I plan to focus on these primary areas as I enter the new year. I encourage you to join me.

3 Keys To Making This Your Best Year Ever

  1. Your goals. If you don't clearly define your desired destination, how can you hope to get there? For that matter, how will you even know when (or if) you've arrived? Clearly, you won't. We don't accidentally arrive at our desired destination. For a fresh take on setting goals (and an approach that won't require hours of your life, or boring and clichéd “self help” claptrap) take a look at Michael Hyatt's free video series on setting goals the right way. Even if you think you've “seen it all”, I promise you this is new. You might also want to revisit the interview I did with Michael on this podcast episode.
  2. Your calendar. If you want to see what a person truly values, look at their calendar. If it gets scheduled, it gets priority. Now, I recognize this is not universally true – sometimes our plans go awry and our schedule goes out the window. But one surefire way to derail your aspirations is to fail to schedule them. If you don't fill your calendar with your priorities, others will fill it with theirs.
  3. Your peers. I've written about this before. You become like the people you intentionally select as your peer group. This doesn't mean, by the way, that you heartlessly cut people out of your life! One of the questions that frequently comes up in this area is: “What about my family and friends? They don't share my aspirations, goals, attitudes, or discipline. Should I cut off my relationships with them?” By no means! But neither should you let your peer group (the people you consciously allow to influence your thinking and behavior) come together through chance, or via the genetic lottery. Love your family and friends – but choose your peer group.One of the best ways to do this is to form – or join – a carefully constructed Mastermind Group. If you'd like to be considered for my personal guided Mastermind in 2015,  join us for an introductory webinar tonight (Monday, December 8, 7pm Eastern). I'll share our plans for 2015, and we can see if this group is a good fit for you (and vice-versa).

These 3 keys – goals, calendar, and peers – form a self-reinforcing system that greatly increases your odds of success in the coming New Year.

Question: What action steps will you be taking with each of the 3 keys to make this your best year ever? 

Ray Edwards is a world-renowned copywriter and communications strategist, writing for some of the most powerful voices in leadership and business including New York Times bestselling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul) and Tony Robbins. Ray is a sought-after speaker and author, hosts a popular weekly podcast, and blogs at RayEdwards.com.