January 18, 2022

5 Steps To Help You Succeed This Year

It’s been super exciting to see so many of you back in the dojo and training online. Way to go everybody and thank you for your enthusiasm and dedication. We are so grateful that we get to learn, share and grow with you on this amazing journey.

Let’s now, together, take some simple steps to set ourselves up for a year of ‘growth’. If you don’t capture all of this, don’t worry, just review it a few times and work through it at your pace. If you are really stuck, send us a quick message, and we’d be more than happy to give you a hand.

Here are our 5 steps to see you succeed this year.

Step 1: Identify what is important to you this year. Give yourself a focus. What are you working towards?

Let’s create an adventure filled with all that is important to you at this very moment. We make loads of decisions every day. Let’s make a decision right now to allow ourselves to move forward to the destination of our choice.

Take a couple of controlled breathes, sit tall, open up that chest, get your eyes up and straight ahead, smile as you think about all that you could do this year and when you are ready put pen to paper. Write a chapter of your life right now.

A word of caution… if you don’t choose a destination, there is a good chance you’ll end up in what seems like a washing machine, being tossed around leaving you feeling pushed around by life reacting to life’s challenges and everybody else’s requests.

Step 2: Give yourself the best possible chance to win this year.  Take the time to get to know your starting position so you can run the best race of your life.

This can be the hardest thing of all. Take a look in the mirror to see who you have become. Be brave, take a look and know that in doing this, your power returns to you and you can now do something different to create a different result in your life.

The greater the responsibility you take over your life, the greater the power you’ll have to make a change. Once you are clear on your starting position and clear on where you want to go, all you have to do is move from point A to point B.

You no longer need to find yourself feeling lost on your path forward, or getting distracted. This is your time. No excuses, let’s own this moment and make a change. A change that you want in your life.

So once again, take a couple of controlled breathes, sit tall, open up that chest, get your eyes up and straight ahead, smile as you think about all that you could do this year and when you are ready put pen to paper. You’ve got this!!

You are doing amazing. Let’s turn it up a notch…

Step 3:  To run your race this year, take a moment to answer these questions? Through asking questions you’ll shine a bright light on the answers that you need.

With every question answered you reveal a piece of the puzzle. You may not know all the questions to ask right now, nor get all the answers, but you’ll have more than enough to get you moving forward. There are no wrong answers, so give it your best shot.

– what are the actions that need to happen?
– what resources will you need to help you?
– what skills do you need to learn?
– who can help you?

Hopefully, you can now see a few pieces of your puzzle more clearly. Let’s now bring these puzzle pieces together by taking action. The more actions you take, you’ll not only see more clearly more pieces of the puzzle (you are bound to ask more questions), but you’ll also see how the puzzle pieces fall into place.

Remember, the puzzle pieces won’t show up unless you shine a light on them by asking quality questions. And, your puzzle pieces won’t fall into place unless you join them together with ‘action.’

Step 4: Get things done, schedule these actions into your planner.

That’s right. Let’s stack the odds in our favour and ‘schedule’ our actions into our planners. Some actions may be daily, weekly, monthly, but let’s be clear on what you have in front of you even if you have an incomplete puzzle.

Start with what you have and the other pieces of the puzzle will become clear along the way. And when they do…. Schedule the associated actions into your planner.

Step 5: Now if you really want to get to your destination a little quicker and have some fun, take the time to think about the person that you need to become in order to reach your destination.

Do you need to be more focused, more organised. Maybe a little more disciplined than you are now. What are some of the habits that you believe will align you to have more winning days this year?What would it feel like to be this new version of you?

Remind yourself often of this person that you are creating, not only through thinking about this new and improved you, but to also practice being this person now. That’s right, practice being this person now.

Sure, you may not be perfect, but the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Before you know it, you will be that person. Remember, The person you are ‘being’ today is the person you are becoming.

Write that down, ‘the person you are ’being’ today is the person you are becoming. So, what are your thoughts, words and actions of today look like? Do they resemble the thoughts, words and actions of the person you want to be?


“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”

~ Oprah Winfrey


I believe if you apply these 5 steps in your life, you are going to have a super year!

Even if you don’t apply it perfectly, at least your mind will be opening up and expanding and you will notice a change. Change is change no matter how small it may seem.

If you can create a little change, with practice you can change a little more and before you know it, you will have created a mountain of change and your life will never be the same again.

As you move forward throughout this year, remember that you are not alone.  No matter what lies ahead, know that you have all that you need to keep moving forward.   Deep within yourself, you can access ‘Tan Power’ (also know as Grit, determination, guts, tenacity, an indomitable spirit that won’t back down) Learn more about ‘Tan Power’.

So, let’s double-check we have our actions scheduled into our planners and all that leaves us to do is ‘turn up’ and ‘give our best’. 

Let’s Grow!!

About the author 

Sandra Phillips

Sandra Phillips
Chito-Ryu Karate-Do: 5th Dan, Renshi (Master Instructor) & Kobujutsu 3rd Dan

Sandra is passionate about living her best life and helping people like you live their best lives. No matter what you may be going through, know that your best days are ahead of you. Choose to challenge yourself to do something today that is important to you (no matter how small it may seem) and create ‘practices’ that help you live your best life.

Be Great, Be YOU! Let’s Grow!!

Leave a Reply
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}