Well, Happy New Year to you.

I hope your 2024 is as fabulous as you are! But it might not be feeling so fabulous yet…

Many people I’ve spoken to are taking a little while to get into gear this year. I hear reasons ranging from:

• Not having a real break – including the dilemma about how much of the first week of January to take off.
• How out-and-out knackered folk were at the end of December.
• Expecting too much of January (if so, I’m giving you a hard stare over imaginary glasses following my email in December).
• It’s already feeling hectic and everybody wants a piece!
• Or just taking a while to get back into the rhythm and routine.

If this sounds familiar, then never fear, Nic is here with three steps to success. The super simple actions to make this year feel altogether more doable and, frankly, more fun.

Your three-step recipe to success

#Step 1: Give yourself some focus

• In January it’s easy to get sucked into thinking you have to map out your whole year. A plan for the next 12 months can feel intimidating and we all know how volatile things are at the moment. Bite off a manageable chunk and focus on the first three months.
• Find 30 minutes in a quiet corner and ask yourself: What are your genuine priorities for the next three months? And does your board, your boss or your team agree?
• Caveat: the word that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting in that question is genuine. By genuine, I mean the stuff that delivers your purpose, your strategy or the numbers… not the wish-list of actions you’d quite like to do or the tasks you imagine your stakeholders want from you.
• If the list is going to be doable, it has to be tight. Remember ‘The Planning Fallacy’– put simply, we kid ourselves about how long stuff is going to take!

#Step 2: Give yourself a win

• Now ask yourself: What can you cross off that list this week?
• It might be a big thing you have time to focus on that would feel like huge progress. Or a small thing that you can nail this afternoon to give you momentum.
• Whatever it is, it has so come with a sigh of relief that makes everything else on the list just feel that bit more possible.

#Step 3: Give yourself a reward

• Treat yourself to something rewarding for achieving that task.
• Make sure it’s meaningful to you - it could be a conference ticket, lunch with a friend, a walk, a book, a massage, dinner with an inspirational colleague or finishing an hour early on Friday (shh, don’t tell anyone!).
• Trust me, rewards work. Treat yourself like a puppy needing praise or a toddler needing training – and you’ll get the energy and the excitement you need for the next thing.

Then before you know it, January already feels like you’re #winning.

So, tell me. What’s your win going to be?