We are 3 days into 2021, today being a Sunday…..most of you must have been planning first outing of the year. For some, officially the new year is yet to kick off since their first day in office be on Monday the 4th Jan. Some of you will certainly use this Sunday to delete thousands of Happy New Year messages that you received from all your well wishers to ensure you are intact with your phone memory. For some, today is also the day to pack their Christmas tree that childern decorated few days back. Another 3 days into the year and every thing will be normal as previous years and life will move on….
So finally all the passion, josh, determination as well as optimism will settle down to make it routine normal and life will again be running in same pace to meet deadlines, catching early morning flights, skipping workouts, ignoring diet charts and so on….Hold on Hold on…. dont do injustice to yourself. So many people wished you Happy New Year, will you let their important wishes go like that only…..No, you should not do that. Let this be the year of change, let this be the year of creating Happiness, let 2021 be the year of being true to yourself and thus making every moment here on a Very Happy Moment.
Happiness is about Health, Hygine, Home, Finances, Friends, Future plans. Have you penned down how you are going to deal with these 6 pillars that actually make your life good or bad. 2021 is not just start of a new year but actually you are entering into a decade which incidentally has just 3652 days. Fact of the matter is unless you design it well, you will not be able to execute it with perfection and you need to first learn the art of designing it to get optimum results like many others. The first step in this direction is to pen down the action plan in black & white. Action plan is like a manifesto that helps you create a macro view of what you are going to do in a specified time frame. When you create an action plan, stay traditional to use a Pen & Diary (Don’t type on Mobile/Laptop). Its like you know that Delhi to Jaipur is 278 Kms but still there are milestones written after every Kilometer to let you know that you are on right track and progressing well…same has the impact of hand written action plan.
Six Pillars of Life Success are:
Health – They say Health is Wealth and this should always remain a top priority. Off late you might have observed that people with focus on health are better accepted in society. Pen down on what change you will bring in New Year including Morning Walk, Eating Healthy, Hitting GYM every evening, Giving Up smoking, No non veg week a month & so on. Practicing this for all 10 yrs of a decade would only mean that you add another 5 Yrs to your life on account of living better, living healthy.
Home – Everyone wants a cozy home of his/her dreams. If you already have one & planning a 2nd home or may be looking forward to add a Form house. Note down the locality, timeline and budget, best would be click a photograph or download one and paste it on a dairy that you can see almost everyday. If you start planning on mission mode, you will certainly have the home of your choice sooner than expected.
Friends – You have too many friends but not been able to meet some selective people in many years. Note down the names of 5 such friends to meet this year. Once you have noted their names, let them know that you are going to meet him/her this year. Even if they are staying abroad, you or they will find a reason to meet come what may…… Meeting 5 friends every year means 50 Friends in next 10 yrs.
Finances – You have been delaying systematic investments for future goals, you can’t afford any more delays beyond this date. Note down 3 Important Financial Goals (Which year your Child will go to College for Higher Education/ Which year your Daughter will get into marriageable stage / Which year you want to Retire) Once these goals are clear, have a look at what does this goal cost today i.e 2021 (Double the cost every 7 yrs to reach future cost….say higher education cost for 4 yrs degree is 18 Lakh in 2021 and your child is 6 yrs, you need app 52 Lakh in 2033). Once these Financial Goals are penned down, you can take a call on how to manage them without much compromise on your present lifestyle.
Personal Development – Its extremely important to keep upgrading yourself with knowledge, technology as well as modern trends. This will help you professionally and can become a source of additional earnings. Reading & Travelling are two good ways to learn new things, online courses are available in different fields depending upon your appetite. Note down which 5 Books you will read this year (buy first book before 10th of Jan to make it easy). Note down which 4 places you will travel this year ( plan first place durinh JFM). Note down which online course you will complete this year (Plan one in first 6 months)
Give up one Weakness – No one is complete in this world and everyone knows his/her weakness that some times becomes an embarrassment. This could be being lazy, being impatient, eating too much, sleeping too much, not able to speak good english & so on….Note down one weakness you want to give up this year. Work on this within first 20 days of 2021. Trust me results will shock you beyond your imagination.
We all want to live happily and thats what we keep working for. New year beginning is the best time to put your plan of action on white paper and spend rest of time in chasing this action plan….trust you will close 2021 on a very satisfying note and that will certainly set a very solid foundation for your decade from 2021 – 2031. Do remember whatever you see developing around yourself from a Big shopping Mall, Big Bunglow, New Colony, New Road, New Airport was an action plan on a Plain Paper…..your action plan will happen for sure, all you need to do is just note down…..what can be better time than beginning of 2021….Do it NOW !!!
Kamal K Sharma is an Author, Motivational speaker and founder of movement called SaveFirst associated with SBI Mutual Funds.
