Happy New Year, Happy New You

It’s the new year and time to make those resolutions like we always do. Money we’re going to make, habits we’re going to break, love we’re going to find, pounds we’re going to lose.

You know. The usual.

But this year is going to be different, isn’t it? That’s what you’re telling yourself.

“New year, new me.”

Here’s what I say about that:

I believe you. Why? Because I believe in you.

Change can be hard and me being negative won’t help you, so who am I to rain on your parade?

Just a few things that may help you stay strong and be consistent through the year:

Set goals instead of resolutions

Resolutions are like dreams or wishes that can be easily dismissed. They’re formless and hard to quantify. Saying things like “I’m going to lose weight this year!” won’t produce much as far as results.

“Weight” can mean one pound or a hundred. Without a number to hit you won’t have a way to measure whether you’ve been successful or not.

Without measurable results that can be tracked it’s way too easy to just let your resolutions slip your mind. By March you’ll forget what you were so excited about when the ball dropped.

Instead of wishy washy resolutions, you need to set real goals. Brian Tracy likes to say that a goal is “a dream with a deadline.”

I know you’ve heard this before but your goals need to be SMART to be effective:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Relevant
  • Time-based

Set a specific goal that can be measured, that’s doable within a reasonable timeframe, that actually matters to you, and has a deadline.

Aim upwards higher, fall forwards further

Maybe the reason you’ve failed at stuff before was because your goals weren’t big enough.

Either your previous goals were so easy that you got bored quickly or they were too small to excite you.

Stop worrying about your goals being so high and you miss them.

Start worrying about your goals being too low and you hit them.

(Think I heard Les Brown say something like that. Or I’m just really smart. Oh well.)

Stop worrying about your goals being so high and you miss them.Start worrying about your goals being too low and you hit them. Click To Tweet

Set bigger goals. Goals that will excite you and/ or scare you.

Goals that will make a difference if you actually hit them. Life-changing stuff.

Aim high. Even if you come up short you’ll be further along than you were before.

If you aim to double your income by year’s end but only get halfway there then you still win.

Who’s going to argue about getting a 50% raise in a year? Who wouldn’t like “failing” to a 50% increase? Most people get 2% raises at their job.

Get an accountability partner or group

It’s easy to ignore a goal and pretend that it never existed when no-one else knows about it. Then you can pretend that it never mattered to you anyway and just forget about it without feeling guilty.

Also, when no-one else knows your goals then it’s easier to forget about them. And your motivation will be tested.

What you need is someone (or someones) to hold you accountable. Someone who will remind you about your goal and ask if you hit your target for the day.

Someone who will challenge you for not doing what you said you would do.

One idea that I’ve seen is posting your intentions on social media for the world to see. That way you keep working just to avoid public shame.

If you have a friend that cares about you then they will gladly check in with you on a regular basis to keep you on track.

This especially works with a friend that’s working towards the same or similar goal. You keep each other going. That’s why it’s easier to stay consistent and keep getting gains in the gym when you have a workout buddy.

Bring it all together

If you want to get better results this year then change your approach.

Set goals, not resolutions. Set bigger goals. Get an accountability partner.

Do these things and you’ll have a better year than ever before.

Don’t Give Up on 2020

This is a make-or-break year, your choice. Too many people have already decided that 2020 is a year to be forgotten. It’s almost the halfway point and here in the United States we’ve already had three P’s that have been highly disruptive:

Pandemic,

Protests,

and the Possibility of murder hornets.

(Yes, that third P was a stretch but three P’s sounded better than two.)

I can’t deny that 2020 has been one for the history books already.

Covid-19 has killed people around the globe and most likely has set a recession in motion. “Coronavirus! Sh*t is real!”

Police are killing unarmed Black people while being recorded. STILL killing Black people while being recorded.

Protests have been raging nationwide, globally even.

There’s so much going on that I know it’s easy to say that 2020 has been devastating and we should scrap the whole year. I’m here to say that you shouldn’t give up on 2020 and here’s a few reasons why:

[Read more…]

How to Pay Your Rent Without going Broke

For many people the 1st of the month is a stressful time. No partying that weekend. No eating out. No shopping sprees. Kids have to stay in the house…

It’s time to pay rent.

Too many people are out here broke around the 1st of the month because they just paid their rent. They say they have no money because they gave the majority of their paycheck to the landlord. I’ve run into this so much that it’s become obvious to me that this must be really common.

If this applies to you then here’s my simple piece of advice for you to stop this madness:

[Read more…]

The Art of Repetition: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk episode 6

Today’s lesson learned from Jay Morrison of the Tulsa Real Estate Fund is based on episode 6 of his “Jay Walk” YouTube lecture series. This episode was called “The Art of Repetition” and can be seen here.

Jay gives one of the best pieces of advice for anyone looking for success no matter what it is or how they define it.

So many of us are frustrated that we haven’t gotten things or accomplished goals as fast as we would like. Sometimes we humans just have a microwave mentality and expect instant results. Too bad life doesn’t always work that way.

Jay talks about how repetition is key to getting what we want out of life.

[Read more…]

Thug Motivation: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk episode 5

Continuing with our commentary on Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk Youtube series today we talk about episode 5, “Thug Motivation”. (You can see the video here).

In this video he talks about dealing with adversity and the options we have for doing so. Jay says there are really only two options: fight or fold.

We will all run into setbacks sooner or later. There will be times when you lose friends, deals, lovers, money, you name it. Unexpected things will happen to disrupt your plans no matter how well you plan. It happens to the best of us.

Bad things happen to good people.

You are no exception.

You will have to decide how you’re going to face your trials and tribulations. Like Jay said, there are only two options:

[Read more…]

Stop Being Stupid: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk series episode 4

In episode 4 of Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk YouTube series he talks about one of the most important concepts that can help anyone in any area of life. It is simply this:

Stop being stupid!

The easiest way to get everything that you want out of life is to NOT be stupid. I know what you’re thinking….

DUH!

Before you roll your eyes and click away from this post then we should really define what “stupid” is. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stupid as slow of mind or given to unintelligent decisions or acts.

We’ll focus on that second part regarding unintelligent decisions or acts.

[Read more…]

Charm and Disarm: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk episode 3

Today’s lessons learned from Jay Morrison are taken from episode 3 of his “Jay Walk” YouTube series. In this episode he talks about the principle he calls “Charm and Disarm”.

(See episode 3 here)

The entire premise is based on making life easier for yourself by “putting your best foot forward”.

Send positive signals with your appearance

[Read more…]

Stop Being Scared of Ghosts: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk episode 2

On the second episode of Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk YouTube series he advises everyone to “Stop Being Scared of Ghosts” (see video here).

This is really good advice that almost everyone needs to hear. What he was talking about is the tendency of people to be afraid of things that might happen. Too many of us stress over potential bad news or negative outcomes.

Don’t be afraid of things before they actually happen

This is the main point of the video and relates closely to the first episode of his Jay Walk series.

[Read more…]

Never Tell Yourself No: Jay Morrison’s Jay Walk episode 1

Recently Tulsa Real Estate Fund founder Jay Morrison started a new video series on Youtube called Jay Walk. It’s his way of giving advice to the Black community on how to maneuver successfully in life and business. The first video in the series was called “Never Tell Yourself No!” (click here to watch)

I thought it was really good advice and needs to be shared. This is a concept that most of us need to internalize. I know that I need to.

Here are the key takeaways:

Never quit before you start

This is the major point that Jay is trying to make. Never telling yourself no doesn’t mean go out and buy yourself whatever you want on impulse or never delaying instant gratification.

What he meant was that you should never give up on something you want to achieve before even trying. Too many people don’t try big things because they talk themselves out of it. Personal development expert Brian Tracy says that people attempt their goals an average of less than one time.

Less than one time.

That’s crazy.  People quit before they even start. This is due to a lack of self confidence.

Don’t let that be you.

[Read more…]