Let me say this, I don’t like to think about 2014 as a year; I’d rather call it 365 days. In fact, what I’ve done is that for 2014, I call it the 365 day project. When you think years, your mind thinks we have a lot of time. But a year is only 365 days. When you think months, you think we have twelve months, but it’s only 365 days time. When you think weeks, you think 52 weeks, but in actual reality, it’s only 365 days. And in one way or the other, your mind adjusts to think that it has a lot of time ahead of it. But if you’re able to think from a day’s perspective, it’s going to change a lot of things for you.
Let me give you an example. When you say you’re going to accomplish something in three months’ time, you think you have a lot of time, but in reality, it’s only ninety days. Multiply that by twenty-four hours and you’ll realise that you have less than two thousand hours to accomplish what you need to do.
Let me say this very quickly. I call it a project because most great accomplishments in life have been done with a project mindset. Olympians would tell you that they work with a four-year project cycle. CEOs run with an annual 365-day project cycle. For you to achieve extraordinary result in 2014 in any area of your life, you need to think from a project mode.
I was talking with my wife recently one morning, and she was commenting about the fact that she has lost a lot of weight lately, which is a desire that she’s had, and she made a statement that “I pray that I stay this way in the new year”. I said to her right away, “prayer is not a strategy, you must have action that follows prayer. Prayer is actually meant to be a precursor to the necessary action that would fulfill your desires. Most people have prayers; a New Year Resolution or what they want to achieve in the new year, but let me say this to you: prayer is powerful, but it must be accompanied by the appropriate actions. In 2014, what do you want to achieve? What do you want to record as success in this year? If you’re not clear about it; if you’re just merely ‘praying’ about it, the likelihood is that it is not going to become a reality. You must have a clear strategy; you must have clear actions that you must take to get the future that you desire.
I’m going to share seven things that you must do in 2014, things you must keep doing throughout 2014 for you to have extraordinary results.
The first thing I want to say is,
what is your vision for 2014? What do you want to focus on? What do you want to achieve? The year, like a project, must have an end in mind. It must have a vision; it must have that which you want to accomplish with the time that has been given to you. That is really what time is all about. On a project, you’ll learn that there are a few factors that you must take charge of. One of them is
TIME. So I say to you, the 24 hours/day for the next 365 days that you have are given to you to accomplish certain things. You must be clear about what 2014 holds for you? I was speaking with somebody recently and I asked: “What would 2014 produce for you?” and he said, “whatever God gives to me”; I said, “No, God does not even work that way; God will tell you as far as your eyes can see is what you can accomplish.” So I want to tell you that for the different aspects of your life, what is your vision? A mentor of mine would say, “A vision is a mental picture of a desirable future.” That desirable for you is the December 31, 2014. What will happen or what must have happened before then? When you are clear in your vision, every single day towards that vision becomes your opportunity to fulfill that vision. Every single distraction that would keep you away from that vision is something you begin to fight against. But when you have no vision, you will settle for anything. Somebody said that if you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything. I believe that the year would be a short one; that it will pass very quickly. And so my charge to you today is that what exactly would you like to achieve this year? Please don’t have it in your mind; it must be on paper. I tell people that if it cannot work on paper, it cannot work in real life. You must be able to write down the vision. You must be able to make it plain so that it can be understandable to you and it must be communicated to others that can work with you. An example; If my wife wants to lose weight but eats after 7pm, then her vision in that regard has been sabotaged. That’s what happens. When you have a vision, actions are what you begin to take to fulfill that vision.
So my charge is this, I hope that one way or the other, you’ve been reflecting on the desires you have. Let me say this to you; a vision is a well-cooked desire. It is the thing that drives you; it is the reason why you wake up every single day. Please understand; I’m not speaking about goals. Goals are actually a subset of milestones; milestones are a subset of vision. You cannot fulfill a vision as it were, but you can have goals that enable you make that vision a reality. So first and foremost you must be clear by asking yourself the following questions:
- What must I celebrate by December 31, 2014?
- What are the actions that I must take that would enable this vision to become a reality?
Let me say this to you; 2014 has not happened yet. What will happen in the rest of January, the months of February, March and the rest of the year is still a blank slate. It is your action, your decision or indecision is what will determine what you record at the end of the year. I believe that this year is your opportunity to catch up. I met many people in 2013 that said to me; Jimi, I wish I can be a lot more. But let me tell you this; you can be, do, have a lot more in this year. But you must be clear about what this thing must be. When you start the race, you must know the destination. You never start a race without knowing what the end-point is because every single step along that race, your mind will focus on the end-point because that is the way you have been designed to function. So, if you’ve not set the vision – if you’ve not set your goals that would enable you to accomplish that vision, I want you to do that NOW! Get down to it. Don’t get busy with life that you really don’t live.
Time waits for no one. Time will keep ticking second by second; minute by minute; hour by hour? But it’s important for you to be able to determine and say time is going to work in your favour.
Let me ask you this as a wrap-up. How many hours do you think Bill Gates has? Think about that for a minute. How many hours do you have? Well, how many hours does Barack Obama has? How many hours do you have? I’m sure you get my drift. The truth about it is this; the richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world, still has 24 hours and that is what you too have. So it is the use to which you put time that differentiates men on the face of the earth.
I’ve begun to say this lately that “Great men simply use the time of those that have nothing to do to accomplish what they want to do.”
So you must determine and say the things you want to accomplish before the end of the year, and write them down. I believe that when you set this vision; when you set this goal, even God in heaven is going to rise up to aid the fulfillment of that vision. I believe this year will be a great and awesome year for you. This year will be the realization of a lot of a lot of progress, a lot of achievement for you. You were not born to be ordinary. There is something unique about you. There is something this world desires, longs for, that is resident inside of you. Don’t let anything tell you that it is impossible because everything is actually possible to anyone that would believe in the vision that is set before them.
I trust that this year, you will have significant progress that will be recorded and celebrated with you. 2014 is your year. God bless you and have a lovely day. Watch out for the next in the series.
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Jimi Tewe is a career success catalyst. Follow @jimitewe on Twitter to keep up with his posts.
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This article was first published on 9th January 2014
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Let me say this very quickly. I call it a project because most great accomplishments in life have been done with a project mindset. Olympians would tell you that they work with a four-year project cycle. CEOs run with an annual 365-day project cycle. For you to achieve extraordinary result in 2014 in any area of your life, you need to think from a project mode.
I was talking with my wife recently one morning, and she was commenting about the fact that she has lost a lot of weight lately, which is a desire that she’s had, and she made a statement that “I pray that I stay this way in the new year”. I said to her right away, “prayer is not a strategy, you must have action that follows prayer. Prayer is actually meant to be a precursor to the necessary action that would fulfill your desires. Most people have prayers; a New Year Resolution or what they want to achieve in the new year, but let me say this to you: prayer is powerful, but it must be accompanied by the appropriate actions. In 2014, what do you want to achieve? What do you want to record as success in this year? If you’re not clear about it; if you’re just merely ‘praying’ about it, the likelihood is that it is not going to become a reality. You must have a clear strategy; you must have clear actions that you must take to get the future that you desire.
I’m going to share seven things that you must do in 2014, things you must keep doing throughout 2014 for you to have extraordinary results.
The first thing I want to say is, what is your vision for 2014? What do you want to focus on? What do you want to achieve? The year, like a project, must have an end in mind. It must have a vision; it must have that which you want to accomplish with the time that has been given to you. That is really what time is all about. On a project, you’ll learn that there are a few factors that you must take charge of. One of them is TIME. So I say to you, the 24 hours/day for the next 365 days that you have are given to you to accomplish certain things. You must be clear about what 2014 holds for you? I was speaking with somebody recently and I asked: “What would 2014 produce for you?” and he said, “whatever God gives to me”; I said, “No, God does not even work that way; God will tell you as far as your eyes can see is what you can accomplish.” So I want to tell you that for the different aspects of your life, what is your vision? A mentor of mine would say, “A vision is a mental picture of a desirable future.” That desirable for you is the December 31, 2014. What will happen or what must have happened before then? When you are clear in your vision, every single day towards that vision becomes your opportunity to fulfill that vision. Every single distraction that would keep you away from that vision is something you begin to fight against. But when you have no vision, you will settle for anything. Somebody said that if you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything. I believe that the year would be a short one; that it will pass very quickly. And so my charge to you today is that what exactly would you like to achieve this year? Please don’t have it in your mind; it must be on paper. I tell people that if it cannot work on paper, it cannot work in real life. You must be able to write down the vision. You must be able to make it plain so that it can be understandable to you and it must be communicated to others that can work with you. An example; If my wife wants to lose weight but eats after 7pm, then her vision in that regard has been sabotaged. That’s what happens. When you have a vision, actions are what you begin to take to fulfill that vision.
So my charge is this, I hope that one way or the other, you’ve been reflecting on the desires you have. Let me say this to you; a vision is a well-cooked desire. It is the thing that drives you; it is the reason why you wake up every single day. Please understand; I’m not speaking about goals. Goals are actually a subset of milestones; milestones are a subset of vision. You cannot fulfill a vision as it were, but you can have goals that enable you make that vision a reality. So first and foremost you must be clear by asking yourself the following questions:
