Hello 2021! For most of us, 2020 might be filled with tough challenges due to the pandemic. But now that Covid-19 vaccine is on the way, new hope for a better year ahead is rising. New year is always a good time to set new career goals as well as crucial resolutions. However, why don’t we start with small things, such as habits?
From getting more sleep to learning how to forgive, there are powerful habits that will transform your life and open a greater path to success. Betty Liu, host and editor-at-large at Bloomberg Markets, wrote, “Just as a few tweaks in your exercise regime might do wonders for your body, so will a few tweaks to your daily habits do wonders for your professional life.”
Here are 7 magic habits to develop this year, according to Liu:
Before you settle down at your desk, do all the really hard things first. Write that unpleasant email or make that contentious phone call in the morning before the day gets started. Work on that project in the early hours.
You will find you’ll become way more efficient if you don’t walk around all day with a big cloud hanging over your head of what you “need to do.”
See: Financial Freedom: 5 Good Habits for Brighter Future
Not all of us can have the rock hard body of The Rock. Still, exercise is an extremely important habit to develop, both for your physical and mental health. Many successful professionals, despite lamenting how little time they have during the day, still find time to hit the gym or jog around the track. Working out helps you burn off emotional energy, and refocuses your brain.
Getting a great night’s sleep does wonders for your next day. We tend to sleep very little and they don’t always sleep well, but that’s not to say it’s unimportant. Try to get 7 hours of sleep a night. Light a candle, get into your fuzzy PJs and try to find a routine that will make you snooze.
When the going gets tough, don’t get mad-get grateful. It seems like a bunch of hokey stuff, but exercising gratitude everyday will make you infinitely more successful. Some career coaches suggest you write down a list everyday of things you are grateful for (a good number is 10).
Others suggest you simply take a moment to recognise how lucky you are, whether it is having the freedom to start your own business or having the support of your family. As Sallie Krawcheck said on a podcast, Radiate, “My worst day is better than most of the world’s best day.” When you recognise that, you can put a lot more into perspective.
If you want to be a success, you have to work 24/7, right? Wrong. Sure, there are days when you will be working incredibly hard but let’s stop working all the time. Even the hardest working people in the world know how to break for fun. Being able to turn your work off to recharge your batteries is critical to your success.
You screwed up a pitch? So what. You got into a fight with a coworker? That happens. One thing that is guaranteed to happen next year is you will make plenty of mistakes. Forgive yourself and mean it-don’t get attached to the bad things that happen. They happen to everyone. Move on and move on quickly (and by the way, doing No. 2 will help you in this endeavour by blowing off steam at the gym).
It is amazing how much helping someone (it doesn’t matter who or what or how big or small) will improve your outlook on life. Helping someone is empowering. Helping someone without expecting a return is freeing. Don’t keep score. The universe works in mysterious ways-you will get your rewards soon enough.
See also: Dump the Junk: Promoting Healthy Eating Habits Among Workforce
