So, at about this time every year we all take some time off, we enjoy the time with family and friends, and we find a quiet moment to consider the year behind us, and the year ahead.

But what do you really do to change the outcome of your year? Do you really plan to make a change in 2020? Or are you going to do the same thing you did in 2019.

Seriously. Hand on your heart - what did you change last year?

I spent a decade writing stuff down over the holidays each year. I’d scribble pages and pages of notes only to find myself doing the same thing the following year. Then I looked back over years of notes and goals and realized nothing was changing, because, well, I wasn’t changing.

This year, why not make your preparation for 2020 a little easier than years gone by. How about focusing on making only 3 promises to yourself? Promises you can keep…

Promise to make time to change.

Promise yourself you’ll find 30 minutes every day to make a change in your life. For me this is only one of my daily routines, it’s a time when I clear my head and plan for the day ahead. And I do this in 3 parts:

• I take time to consider the things I need to influence that day to facilitate change in my life.
• I take time to consider the things I have influenced enough and now need to set aside.
• And I consider the things that I can not influence and should not even let them enter my consciousness.

Promise to stay focused on happiness.

What are the 5 things that would make you happy this year? I only have 5, for a few reasons. It’s easy to remember 5. It keeps me focused on the things that matter, and not chase rainbows. And it keeps it real, so I make sure I am not just writing things down for the sake of filling a sheet of paper.

Promise to let go.

Every year I try to start with a clean slate. I make a conscious decision to not let those things that disappointed me in the previous year hang over into the New Year.

You know the ones. The people that may have let you down, the promises that some may have broken, or the things that maybe didn’t go your way through the year. Let it go. Shut the door.

On the flip side, be proud of your successes in 2019, but don’t let them overshine what you could achieve in 2020.

It’s time to get focused on the present, so you can change the future. Stop looking in the rear-view mirror. Let it go in 2020.

This time next year, you can look back and feel happy in the fact that you’ve kept your promises, and know that 2020 was another wonderful adventure in your journey.