MAKE THIS YOUR FIRST STEP TO SUCCESS IN 2017

London is a busy place.

I'm not the first person in 2017 to notice that people in London are impatient, walk fast, drive close, demand convenience...and are driven to succeed.

I don't think I've met anyone since moving to London who's said:

Do you know, my life's not perfect, but I'm fine with accepting that.

More often, I encounter:

Life is great...but I still want more!

I believe that there's a big challenge to Londoners to become content with what we have, because the chances are that the challenges you and I face are real first-world problems...but equally, there's nothing wrong with setting ambitious goals and achieving them.

The year is young, and who knows what you might turn it into?

Come with me on a journey of self-discovery and future building. I'm going to post a series of blog entries walking us through some exercises I hope you find helpful.

In this first entry, we're going to dig into the five life indicators:

1 Health

Did you know that often, the most successful people in the world are also really healthy? Getting a good amount of sleep, drinking lots of water and eating healthily will all contribute to your ability to making lasting change.

2 Relationships

Who are your key relationships with? Who would you like better relationships with? Who would you like relationships with that you currently don't have? It's funny that the people with the best friendships tend to just be the friendliest people - we can all learn a lesson and be friendly.

3 Vocation

What takes up the most of your time? Is it a job, or a role in the home, or a role in society? What could you do that would make you feel more fulfilled in that?

4 Emotions

What are the three emotions you feel most of the time? How positive are those words? What could you do that would create more positive emotions?

5 Lifestyle

Where does your time and money go? How satisfied does that answer make you? How could you improve that?

Next steps...

I'd really encourage you to write down your answers to the questions above - it should lead you to a nice to-do list.

But the work's not done yet! Keep your eye on the blog, because the next entry in this series will be appearing in a week.

LIVE IN EALING? WATCH OUT FOR THE U AND U!

Ealing must be one of the best places to live in the world.

It’s got everything! Huge parks, diverse and delicious food, and an incredible local community.

But living in Ealing brings two huge challenges.

1 Watch out for the Urgent

It doesn’t take much time living in London before your perception of time changes, does it?

An 8-minute delay on the Heathrow Connect almost breaks the internet, as the whole of Ealing Broadway leaps onto the TfL website to work out if the Central line would be quicker.

Deep down we all know 8 minutes isn’t a big deal, but it is fun to live life at full throttle. The problem is, a fast-paced life comes with a massive challenge.

Lots of stuff turns out to be urgent when you’re living fast.

Without even realising it, we end up on other people’s agendas. Think about it:

• When was the last time you started a Facebook/WhatsApp message, or do you only ever find yourself replying to others?
• When was the last time you decided, entirely off your own back, to go and apply for a job you wanted, or did you feel you had to leave, or got a call from a recruiter?
• How are you doing on those New Year’s resolutions you set less than a month ago?

Urgent things distract us from what’s important in life.

2 Watch out for the Unimportant

Probably worse than what’s urgent though, is what’s unimportant.

Let me unburden myself of the things that have filled my time so far today:

• Checked Facebook
• Watched a viral video of someone singing on the tube
• Played a game on my phone
• Read opinion pieces on the Academy Awards and the Premier League
• Caught up on one and a half episodes of Jessica Jones on Netflix
• Checked Facebook
• Read the Wikipedia pages for every main character in Jessica Jones
• Tried to get a photo of my coffee cup so the background was blurry
• Checked Facebook

I also have important things in my life; holding down a job so I can afford to live in Ealing, doing my household chores, spending time with my wife, having fun with my kids…

Surprisingly enough, the important things would benefit from us saying ‘no,’ to a couple more of those unimportant bullet points.

Let’s actually do it

Reading this could very easily turn into a waste of time, so let’s commit today to not get distracted by what’s urgent or what’s unimportant!

Tweet to your friends to tell them you’re planning on doing what’s important in 2016 by clicking here!