When it comes to seeing people at their best, it’s fair to say I love working and meeting with passionate people. They are vibrant and their infectious energy rubs off on me.

However, in recent years, I’ve begun to notice a genuine lack of energy in many of the people I interact with every day.  I understand life is busy. As a single working mum, I know what it means to have a full schedule.

I also believe distractions, rather than the complexity of our lives, are leading us to be less than our best.

The 24-hour news and social media cycle is leading us to mediocrity via perpetual distraction. Too often we don’t get the rest we need either physically or mentally and subsequently we are far from our best at work and at home.

Is information overload draining you of energy and leading to you to distraction?

 Are you tired and unable to focus? 

Is life’s daily to-do list getting longer and ever more incomplete?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, here are my three key tips for getting back to being your best in 2018.

1. Block out the noise.

This is top of the list because without taking this step you’ll never be able to focus on being your best. My suggestions aren’t new but why not try these. They have worked for me.  a) Limit looking at email and your phone when in a meeting and with others – thus giving complete focus to the subject in discussion.  b) Limit phone contact when you are planning to rest – whether it be your 10 minute power nap, afternoon reenergiser nap or sleeping at night – put your phone to flight mode.  This way you won’t be distracted by your phone. (turning to silent will still show messages that come in). c) Limit checking news and social media sites to three to four times a day and only for 30-60 minutes at a time only. Of course, if your work is in social media, this would not be an option for you.  Take at least one of these steps and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

1. Pick your passion.

Personally, I don’t believe in annual New Year resolutions, because I am not particularly mindful of them after the month of January. By the end of the year I can’t even remember what they were, unless of course I wrote them down.  If like me you have a lot going on, chances are you’ll achieve very few of your resolutions. And, for those you do achieve, you may well be disappointed with the end result. My preference is to pick three to five goals that I would love to do or to achieve. Generally, I pick goals that I am passionate about that will stretch my abilities and thinking. Every day I am mindful of my goals and consistently focused on achieving them. The feeling as I progress these goals is one of increasing joy and satisfaction.

1. Give 100% every day.

Accept that your to-do list will never be done completely. It’s a fact of life that the to-do list will continue to grow, small or big.   Knowing that, make sure your daily activities include those that will achieve your goals.  Your passion for those goals will create time every day for you to get them done.  Give each of these activities 100% of your energy.   Reprioritise your to-do list at the end of each day, and monitor the progress of activities that directly impacts your goals.

Follow these three simple rules and you might not only be surprised at the quality of your achievements but also how much you enjoy making them happen.

I look back on 2017 with no regrets because I achieved the things I cared about. Sure, some things didn’t happen, but these weren’t my passion and I didn’t lose a moment’s sleep over them.

A new year is a chance to reset, but too often resolutions focus on a list of things we’d like to achieve with little regard for how. The secret lies in blocking out the distractions and giving our best to the things that really matter.

ANOMI