New Years principles that matter. Live this and you will do just fine.

New Year’s is a romanticised idea. When you woke up on New Years day the only thing that actually changed, was the date.

This should not discourage you. Instead, take heart. It’s a reminder that you have the power to take control of your life on any given day.

I am not a fan of advice rattled off on lists as they typically lack depth. But there are some principles in life that don’t require extensive explaining. Just application.

Here are some principles you should apply in your life from today…

Remember that success is earned through the discipline of consistent daily action. Being a little bit better every day.
Fight for those 1% gains in all areas of your life.
Be kind to those who share the journey with you.
Be willing to pay the price. Success demands time, money, effort and energy. Sacrifice is required.
Start with simple, optimise from there. Most matters are simple, your overthinking is what complicates it.
Be more self aware. Spend more time with yourself. Figuring out who you are and what you truly want out of this life.

Examine your beliefs and values. Stop holding on to those that no longer serve you, and embrace the ones that do.

2017 is going to be a great year, if you make it so. Some days it will punch you in the gut, some days it will drive you to tears, yet other days it will bring you happiness, joy and love.

Just keep moving forward. Be steady in your resolve.

I’d like to leave you with one of the most powerful speeches ever given. I have a copy of it mounted in my study. Live this and you will do just fine.

On the 23rd of April 1910, Theodore Roosevelt said:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.