(VISION) How To Make This Year Your Best

There are just over three months left of 2017. 

There is a lot of time to make this year your best. 

The prior eight months might have challenged you greatly and  you may have up until now regarded 2017 as a 'terrible year'. Some of you however  may have had an amazing year and  really come on leaps and bounds in your  own personal development. Wherever you believe yourself to be positioned  right now,  this post is designed to help you guys on both sides of the spectrum - there is enough time left to make this year your best regardless of what has occurred before. Below are five ways in which I have found  allow for you to be more productive, efficient and generally more happy - making your goals for this year that much more attainable.

Make time for yourself
This may seem like a fairly obvious suggestion but it is hard to really put yourself first sometimes! I found that allowing time for myself at some point everyday, whether that is being creative or listening to music or a podcast, I was allowing myself to switch off and focus on nothing but the present moment. I believe that this is vitally important to long term success. Whilst success takes lots of work and sacrifices it also requires personal time to reflect on what went well in the day and what didn't. Addressing those problems head on when they surface prevents them appearing later on in your life and therefore allowing you to focus on the goals and tasks that matter right now.

Schedule your day
This may sound like a ball - ache but believe me it was the most important thing I did last year. Scheduling work/coursework/homework into digestible bites from the get go really allows you to focus on everything you need to with equal intent. It also drastically takes time off of your revision schedule when exam season eventually creeps up on you college/high school students. For those looking to balance working commitments with their social life, scheduling your day will allow you to see exactly when you are able to meet up with friends and/or make time for your hobbies.

Practice gratitude

In order to reach and even surpass your goals, demonstrating gratitude will enable you to experience the journey fully. A lot of people recall feeling underwhelmed when they reach  a lifetime goal. Professional athletes even suffer with bouts of depression after a championship win due to them having nothing to focus on. Listing what you are grateful for every morning and each evening will develop a consistent habit of acknowledging what you are truly motivated by. Not only will this consistently raise your personal  state, but it will also give you something to focus on during and after you smash your goals for this year.


Model successful people
Modeling successful people will enable you to cut corners in regards to your path to success. Learning lessons from people who are or have been on the same path as you will enable you to reduce the chances of you making similar mistakes on your own personal journey.

Aim intentionally high
I have found that by setting your sights high you ultimately perform a lot better in regards to your tasks. For example, for my A level exams, I wanted 4 A* grades. I worked my best to achieve this although it was very difficult  for me to reach. I firmly believe if you set out to achieve the minimum for your tasks, you get the minimum out of your endeavor. By aiming high even if you may not necessarily achieve that goal exactly as you wished, you are setting your standards higher and thus working towards a greater probability of surpassing what you could have achieved if you set your goals a little lower.



If this post has helped you in anyway, a share or a message on my social media would be greatly appreciated*. I wish you all the best for the rest of the year and believe that you are able to kill it whatever your goals may be. If you don't think your current goals are possible -  I understand that a lot of you reading this have recently got your exam results and may not be too pleased with the outcome. This is okay. Use the suggestions above and set yourself new goals that you could make for the rest of this year. There are no excuses unless you make them.

* My Instagram: lewis_altiefe

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope that it helps you in some way. I would love to connect with you on social media. You can find my pages below:

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I also write for Rife Magazine - to read my content on there, please click here.

I am a young advisor to Off The Record Bristol, a young persons confidential mental health service dedicated to helping young people through a multitude of treatments and services. You can find out more about them here.