“I have failed over and over again.” This quote is maybe one of the most quoted and famous lines of any athlete. It’s undoubtedly one of the most famous lines from Michael Jordan and an accurate description of good intentions we may have at the beginning of every new year.

The year: 2022. The month: January. The feeling: The same as I am sure most of us feel at the start of every new year—that giddy mix of motivation as we start anew combined with exhaustion from over-indulgence. And a world-weariness that comes from being conscious during the past few years on Planet Earth. If you are reading this blog, then you’ve done it. You’ve made it through the early 2020s, no mean feat. If you, like me, would like to guarantee that this year will be better than the last, keep reading as today we will focus on everything you and I need to crush 2022. 

My name is Andrew Sillitoe. Thanks for reading my blog. Happy New Year. 

I’m pretty competitive. I bet I’m more competitive than you. See what I mean? 

I enjoy target-driven, results-based activities, so it is no surprise that I have ended up as a business leader, a hockey player, and someone who doesn’t let their kids beat them in running races. The problem with this is two-fold. 1) I am often unsatisfied and aware that there will always be better than me and more competent than me, and 2) my children don’t invite me to play with them much anymore. 

Joking aside, though, even if you are not competitive, I am sure that you would like to make changes to your life that will positively impact your business, body, mind, and relationships. If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place. However, I need to say that I am not an example of “do as I say and not as I do.” I am also not going to lie to you and say I’ve never fallen off the wagon. I have. I’ve been there, got the t-shirt and the bruises to prove it. 

A three-step programme has changed my life for the better, and it is not Eat, Pray, Love. I want to share it with you, hoping that it will change your life for the better. And before you get concerned, all you have to do is call the number below and send me three payments of £79.97. This information is life-changing and free because I fundamentally believe it should be available to everyone. 

Step One. What I’d like to ask you to do is have a vision. I don’t mean to suggest this has to be some psychedelic-multicoloured vision that makes you question why we can’t see oxygen or what is up is down. What I want you to do is envisage, as clearly as you can, how will your life in balance look, act, and feel in 12 months? If you need more time to think about it, please take it. Pause reading, make a cup of tea and have a real, dedicated moment to see who you want to be this year. If you’d like to pause to do so, please do so….now. 

Here is a link to a video I created on creating your vision board.

Welcome back! Now I know I mentioned earlier that I am target driven, but even if you are not, I find this vision a beneficial exercise in having a positive focus for the year ahead. You will likely face opportunities that might take you away from the leader you want to be, and having that vision of who you want to be is vital to bring you back into the moment. I’ll give you a real-life example because, as I’ve said, I am not here as a “holier than thou” type podcast person. I am here to show you how I have overcome the obstacles you will face. 

My vision of who I want to be is a man who makes time for his wife and children. It is someone who can wake up refreshed and energised and ready to win, a hockey player who can keep playing for as many years as he can stand up. This vision is not achievable when I drink alcohol. Luckily, I am not an alcoholic, but I am someone who, like most, can allow it to ruin my evening and the following day. I’ve just completed my second Christmas without alcohol, and it has allowed me to physically and metaphorically see the sunrise. It does, I’m afraid, make listening to people rant about Bitcoin less bearable.

Having a vision of who I want to become in the New Year gives me a visual aid that reminds me that the drink I am offered at a party will not help me. Maybe it won’t hurt me terribly, but it is about valuing tomorrow more than today. I am target driven. As a business leader, chances are you might be too. I implore you to use the vision of who you want to be to help you become it. So the first part is to have a vision. 

Step 2: 90-day Reset. You have 90 days or, for the maths fans listening 2.959 months to achieve targets that will move you towards your vision, you can also take part in the 10 Daily Habits challenge, which I have now put online, for free for January HERE. If you’re new to this blog, I will invite you to go to my website for a more detailed description of them. Still, briefly, the ten daily habits are a series of mental and physical exercises that you can incorporate into your morning routine to maximise your daily potential. Remember that your vision and the ten daily habits will help you maintain the practices you need to succeed. 

I know some of you might be thinking you don’t have the time to make these additions, that you can’t afford to spend 5 minutes every day meditating. You can take 30 seconds to have a cold shower to improve your immune system. I have said this before, but if you want to make a positive change and become the best version of yourself, you can’t afford not to. 

Step 3: Win daily. There is an old proverb that I like very much. “Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves.” Step 3 of this practice is “if you do steps 1 and 2, part 3 will look after itself.” Now here come the T’s & C’s. 

I have failed at parts one and two myself. Sometimes I make the person I want to become unobtainable, unrealistic. I realise now that I can not be the world’s best father, husband, CEO, coach and hockey player. At least not whilst I’m awake. It is a dreamlike, impossible vision that will lead you off the track and down the hillside of unhappiness. You can not be all things to all people, and no one expects you to be. 

I’d encourage you to focus on the essential features of your vision. I am confident that you will not be disappointed if you put your family first. I am also sure that if you spend time making the ten daily habits, which take about 35 minutes, the hours at work will take care of themselves because you’ll be a better version of yourself. 

I have also overindulged. I didn’t drink this Christmas, but I did eat sugary treats with the manic energy of one of the horrible characters in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Even though I know that my gout, the only thing my father left me with, is always worse when I have over-eaten sugar, I thought, “I’ll not get gout on Christmas Day”. Sadly, just like Scrooge got a visit from ghosts, I was visited by gout as I ate an entire Christmas pudding. I am not telling you to ask for your sympathy. I brought the Christmas Pudding-based gout on myself. I am telling you because I want you to know I am not saying this is foolproof. It is hard, but all things that are worth doing are. 

I’m asking you, this year, to put yourself first, and then, naturally, everything else will fall into place. A game plan for you is the only one that will benefit you. It is the only one that puts you front and centre. And like a famous hair care product slogan, I am telling you, you are worth it. 

You probably know the next bit of Micheal Jordan’s quote, but it is important to me that I remind you. “I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” 

You may fail, but it is part of the process. You can reset and start again, don’t stop. And you will continue towards being the version of yourself for it. 

Start with the ten daily habits for free through January HERE