5 Things that Will Help You to Succeed in 2022

First of all – Happy New Year!

Although the world around us is uncertain at the best of times, we essentially define our own future and outcome.

What we put in, we get out – When we apply the right mindset and attitude.

So to help you start your new year with a bang I wanted to share 5 mindset practices that you can apply to make 2022 a successful year for you.

Have Goals

The first one is to have goals. Goals give us direction in life and without them we would merely be stagnating, procrastinating and spending too much time on the wrong things.

Goals lead us to a sense of achievement and it’s important for us to get excited about our goals. When we get excited about the prospect of reaching our goals, we enjoy the journey more.

When we enjoy the journey, we’re ‘doing what we love’. So find passion in what you do and work towards your goals.

Believe in Yourself

Believing in yourself is important. We live in a world where others pull apart your dreams because they have none of their own.

It’s easy to be influenced by the opinions of others, and often it is by those closest to us. If every successful person listened to the opinions of others, they wouldn’t be where they are now.

Set your goals, get passionate about them, grow a thick skin and consistently push forward. It’s okay to make mistakes – It’s normal. But don’t let people sat on the sidelines pull you down to their ‘comfort zone’.

Stay Motivated

I recently wrote a blog post about motivation. We all need ‘Motivation’ to start something, but it’s not enough to ‘finish’ it.

It’s good practice to stay as motivated as you possibly can, even though you’ll have days that you won’t feel motivated at all – and that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

A good way to keep motivated is to keep reminding yourself of your goals and track your progress. Add in small rewards when you reach certain markers, or complete a set of ‘micro tasks’.

Rewarding yourself is good as it adds a sense of gamification to your work. This could be a new watch if you hit your monthly target, a night away with your significant other, or even a nice takeaway. It will encourage you to work towards your goals.

Be Disciplined

Motivation helps you to start something and DISCIPLINE helps you to finish it.

Discipline is vital if you want to succeed at anything. If you have no discipline you won’t make progress.

Discipline is doing something no matter what, even if you don’t feel like doing it. When you master this mindset, you’ll be unstoppable.

The best way to keep disciplined is to break down larger tasks into smaller tasks, and only commit to the next smaller task.

Large tasks can overwhelm us and they can be mentally tiring just thinking about them – Whilst small, simple tasks don’t carry the same burden.

Make a list of micro-tasks and commit to them one at a time. When we complete one, we’re more than likely to move onto the next one with ease.

Be Willing to Adjust and Adapt

This is one of the most important practices to apply in your life.

None of us are perfect and when we’re building a business or working towards a goal – we get things wrong.

It’s normal. However, if we keep doing the same thing when things aren’t working out, we’ll never get it right.

We’re essentially swimming upstream and getting nowhere.

That’s why it is vital to down tools and evaluate what could be going wrong, and look at ways to change it.

Thomas Edison invented the light bulb back in 1879 and it took him over 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before he succeeded.

It’s also noted that his teachers famously said that he was “too stupid to learn anything”.

Well, it was a good job he didn’t let others diminish the belief he had in himself, and was willing to adjust and adapt with his quest to invent the lightbulb.

Remember, we all learn on the job. If we were meant to get it right first time, everyone would be a millionaire and highly successful.

The truth is, we will fail more times than we succeed – But that is what creates our journey. Pretty exciting, right?

Final Thoughts

The world is your oyster and you steer your own boat in life.

Those that have reached a high level of success have often battled through high levels of adversity to get there.

You can do the same!

Carve out your plan – Set your goals – Get excited – But most importantly, enjoy the journey.

Here’s to a successful, happy and prosperous 2022.

Andy Black

When You Re-evaluate What’s Important in Your Life

Well, it’s been a long time since I have posted on my blog – but that’s about to change.

As we’re nearing the end of a difficult period (globally), there’s been a lot of lessons learned.

Probably more realisations than lessons, but this pandemic has certainly changed the way I think about life, in a good way.

Here’s why.

Since a fairly young age I used to have big dreams. I was never sure how I would reach those dreams but it was surely fun to focus on them – and hope that one day I would be living them.

Dreams of a big house with a pool. Sports cars. Designer clothes. Exotic holidays. Everything that ‘many’ people strive for, or want.

Well, that is what I thought I used to want – and for many of those things – I achieved it.

However, even though my dreams were always big, my core focus was always on creating more freedom and flexibility in my life.

Since March 2020 when the first lockdown happened I started to change my perspective on life. My thought processes changed, and as everything that I ‘sometimes took for granted’ was taken away from me, I started to appreciate the simple things in life.

The free things – Such as long walks with my dog. Fresh air on a lovely Spring morning.

Travel was off the agenda. The pubs and bars were closed. Restaurants were shut, and the social amenities that were once accessible on a whim, were closed for business.

The usual things I could spend or squander my money on were no longer in arms reach.

As the reality kicked in I started to realise one thing. I didn’t NEED many of these things in my life. I mean, they were nice additions – sometimes. But I didn’t need them.

That got me thinking about how much money I could have saved if I weren’t so frivolous – and how that money could have been put to better use.

More importantly – It got me thinking how much time I could free up if I didn’t burden myself, or my life, with expensive – unnecessary hobbies, habits and past times.

As I started to enjoy the simpler things in life and valuing my natural surroundings more, it made me want to make real changes in my life and how I live it.

One of the things I now love doing is going hiking in the local hills, moors and countryside. Except for a little fuel money – It costs me nothing. Yet the rewards and benefits are immeasurable.

(Above are just a few photos of these fun outings!)

I now also value my friends and family more too. I always did value them, but I’m talking about a ‘higher level’ of appreciation. Really appreciating the moments I get to spend with them.

I always say – You don’t need many friends. You just need good ones.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about removing ‘stress’ from my life, and even downsizing.

Cutting out the clutter from my life, getting rid or giving away stuff I don’t need – and just living a simpler life.

I’m not talking about extreme minimalism. Just streamlining my belongings and removing things that will hinder my life moving forward. Generally speaking – Consumerism.

Many people work towards retirement. It takes them years because of the financial commitments they make and the lifestyles they lead. Keeping up with the Jones costs money!

For me – It’s about creating the kind of life you don’t need to retire from. That’s now paramount to me.

I want to live my life now, enjoy my life now, and for it to be on my own terms – Rather than grinding for years, hoping that I’ll reach the age that I’ll finally retire. An age where physical illness is more likely to rear it’s ugly head.

Keep an eye out for my next blog post which is going to be about ‘working a 3 or 4 day work week’, and WHY people should work towards that.

I‘d Love to Hear Your Thoughts and Feedback Regarding this Post

Has the pandemic changed the way you live your life? Has it shifted your mindset in anyway?

I’d love to hear your thoughts – So please do drop a comment below this post.

To your success

Andy Black