So here we are, and it’s already mid-January. How are you
doing with your resolutions/plans and goals for 2012?

Are you doing everything you can to get what you want (and deserve)?

I’m just coming off of my best year ever and am working to
keep the momentum going. Every day I plan to make 2012 better than ever, and
I’m going to share some of my methods and inspirations here for those who may
be interested.

Applying the Pareto
Principle

To stay on track, Pareto’s Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should
serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20
percent of you work that is really important. Don’t just “work
smart”, work smart on the right things.

We’re always so busy, but on what? Many of us are undisciplined,
and itis hard to gain any traction, much less momentum by multi-tasking and
doing, doing, doing. It’s imperative to rid ourselves of the extraneous junk,
unplug, and reboot our life!

Here are some tips from excellent thought leader John C. Maxwell about applying the
Pareto Principle as a guideline to assist in decision making so the 20% will
rise to the top of our to-do lists:

·
What must
I do

·
What
provides me the greatest return?

·
What do I
love to do, and what’s the most rewarding?

In order to make progress we must change ourselves. A little
bit each day can compound into sweeping changes over time. One of my mentors, Lee Silber suggests the following
approach:

Take a stack of index cards and on each card write down one
task that takes up your time. Then on the back of each card in your
stack put a heart if you love it. Put a star if you are good at it. Add a
dollar sign if it makes or saves you money. Add a check mark if you must do it or
else bad thingswill happen. Finally, put a plus sign if doing this makes a
difference in the world. It will quickly become clear which things you do
during the day are most important.

Change What you Can

Remember that you’re only as good or as successful at
anything as what you did last time. So in order to change, you must be open,
and proactive. For me,  I want to become
a better communicator,  be a mentor and
expand my own mentorship base, and effect change in my life and the lives of
others. I won’t spend time trying to change things I cannot, and must therefore
in essence walk away and tune out  from
about 90% of the noise “outside”. I must feel comfortable knowing that most of
the answers to what I need to know to change lie within.  I’ll read inspiring or  educational articles first thing every day, and
let the key points mentally “marinate”.

Words are your world,
Your thoughts are your life

In voiceover, we work with words. They are our world. When
we use our words effectively, we can become better communicators, and change
the world in our work. When we receive a script, it is a gift. It is a way to
take care of your customers’ needs. We are cultivating and preserving our
relationships at the same time. We’re bettering our lot and that of whom we
serve. For me, each script stirs my passion to create, which is a huge reward
in itself.

Here’s an excellent video about the power of words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

When we keep in mind that results are our goals, we’ll
automatically move in their direction. If we can capitalize on our successes by
following the direction of our thoughts, we can and will change our lives.