There is always more than one way to achieve anything, you can choose the hard way and attempt to achieve things by continuing to coast through life without any plan to grow and expand. Or you can make achieving success a cinch by committing to a lifetime of learning and growth, where you strive to consistently improve your strengths, every day Jim Rohn said it so well when he said “You can cut down a tree with a hammer, but it takes about 30 days. If you trade the hammer for an axe, you can cut it down in about 30 minutes. The difference between 30 days and 30 minutes is skills”

This is the perfect time of the year to carry out an audit on your personal strengths and weaknesses. The time you will invest into this exercise will stand you in good stead as once you know what your strengths and weaknesses are, you will no longer waste time attempting to improve your weaknesses, you will rather get other people to assist you in areas where you have weakness and devote your time to improving your strengths. This strategy will see you get the maximum benefit from your available time. Any time spent on trying to improve a weakness is pointless and one of the reasons most people go from one year to the next without achieving their dreams.

The challenge we face is that we are programmed to believe that we must improve on our weaknesses and ignore our strengths. When we are at school for example and we excel at math and struggle with English, our caregivers tell us to work on the English to try to improve our marks. I am saying ignore the bad English mark and focus all your energy on becoming a math master. As you discover your areas of strength, invest time to become a master in those areas and invite other people, who play in the areas you find challenging to assist you.

I enjoy being a teacher and feel exhilarated when I am teaching in front of a group of people. On the other side of the scale, I hate organising and co-ordinating events. I have the most amazing person organising my life and co-ordinating all my events, she is terrified by the prospect of speaking in front of a large audience, but is a genius at organising. We complement each other and focus all our energy on our areas of strength. This allows us to be masters at what we do and stops us diluting our efforts by doing things we are not good at.

Larry bird said it so well when he said” "A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals." 2012 is your year; it is time to do things differently this time round. The way you have done things until now has got you to where you are, but unfortunately will not get you to where you want to go.

Stop thinking small this year and don’t think of transforming the sun into a yellow spot on the canvass of your life any longer, see the yellow spot on the canvass of your future as actually being the sun. Allow your magnificence o shine through and commit to acquire new skills and knowledge every day. A real commitment to never ending growth, acquiring new skills and abilities, is the key to unlock the unlimited possibilities that await you in the future.

Action Idea: After identifying your strengths, identify one new skill, which is aligned with your strengths that if you invested effort to develop, would have the greatest effect on transforming your life in 2012.

Break your year back into 90 day segments and invest all your effort over the next 90 days to develop only this skill. Identify 3 books, five audio programs and one seminar that are related to developing this skill and focus all your attention on only that skill.

•Read only those three books, as many times as possible during that 90 day period. Discover the three most important behaviours you need to learn from each book.
•Listen to the audio programs during your commute to and from work every day. Listen to only these five audio programs for the entire 90 day period. Identify 3 important behaviours you can learn and apply in your life from each audio book.
•Attend one seminar related to improving that skill. Identify three behaviours from the seminar that you can apply in your life.

You now have 9 new behaviours form the books, 15 from the audio books and 3 from the seminar. This is 27 new behaviours in total. As you have focused all your energy on the same area, it is likely that many of the new behaviours will overlap. Identify five new SUPER BEHAVIOURS, which you will introduce into your life over the next 90 days. These new behaviours are your CODE OF PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT or commitment you make with yourself to learn and acquire these new behaviours as your new habit set.

Albert Einstein said it so well when he said ""You can't solve a problem on the same level that it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level." If you want 2012 to be your best year ever it is time to realise that you need to do things differently this time round It is time to stop pursuing success and to rather become the type of person that deserves the success you desire.

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Author's Bio: 

Andrew is an expert and master teacher that speaks and teaches self-leadership, expanded awareness, effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. He guides individuals and business professionals, to identify, prioritise and carry out the right activities, consistently, so that they can maximise their personal effectiveness and deliver their best; on time, every time. All the tools and techniques Andrew teaches; have been tested in the laboratory of his own life and the many successful businesses he has owned and led, over the past 20 years. These strategies have seen Andrew achieve financial independence and reach a point of harmonious balance in all areas of his life. His purpose is to help as many people as possible, achieve similar or better results and to show them how they can realise their full potential, both personal and professionally and to help them live a meaningful life, where they are fulfilled in all areas. http://www.andrewhorton.co.za