The year usually starts with resolutions, goals and promises to achieve our wildest dreams. More often than not, most of these aspirations are forgotten come February 1. Studies show that only about 8% of the goal setters will actually achieve the goals that they’ve set for themselves. Hence, the argument that New Year’s Resolutions are useless.

But I disagree.

8% of people changing their lives and achieving their dreams is much better than none at all.

Success depends on various factors. One of the most important ones is how and when we get started. I believe the first 100 days are a deciding factor in whether your goals are going to come to fruition.

When we get a new Prime Minister or Mayor, they often talk about the first one hundred days and what they’ve achieved. While I don’t think there’s much you can do in a hundred days in politics (too much BS & bureaucracy), it’s a long time when it comes to achieving your personal goals.

The first 100 days can be the difference between success and failure.

The first one hundred days is the time to set your foundation. During this time you’re still excited about moving forward with your goals, dreams, and ambitions. The spark is alive and you need to keep the flame glowing to sustain momentum throughout the year.

Take the first quarter of the year and get as much done as possible. Break down your major goals into daily tasks so that each day you feel like you’re moving forward.

So, you’ve decided you want to have a book ready for publication by the end of the year. What do you do? What can you do in the first 100 hundred days?

Write the damn book.

Aim to write 1000 – 2000 words per day and you’ll have a book within two to three months.

Break it down to writing 500 words in the morning and 500 words in the afternoon if you need to. Make use of getting up an earlier, writing during your commute, your lunch hour, after work, or before going to bed instead of watching another reality tv show. 

If you can’t aim for that many words, start with 100 words per day. You’ll still be better off than writing 0 words. 

No excuses. 

If you manage that in the first quarter, then you’re set to achieve the goal of publishing your first book by year end. How awesome would that feel? Your name, on a book cover, on a book that you wrote. Hell yeah!

The same goes for changes to your health and fitness. Maybe you want to lose weight or learn to run. Start walking every day. Then include a jog in between light poles. 

I remember when I had to stop to walk a dozen times in a 3km run. It hurt. I felt like shit. But I persevered. Within a few weeks of consistency, I ran the full distance. Since then I’ve run marathons.

Baby steps every single day will make all the difference.

The first 100 days. Bring them on.

You can do anything. Be anything. Achieve anything.

The choice is yours.

Make the first 100 days count and you will be ahead of the game. You will maintain motivation, you will keep going, you will succeed.

My A goal is 5 new books on the market by December 31, 2019. The first 100 days of 2019 are going to be busy, they’re going to be productive, they are going to mean the difference between success and failure.

I’ve broken the goals down into actionable steps and daily ‘to do’s’. I know what I have to do monthly, weekly, and daily. I’m prepared to work hard because this is an important goal for me. My dream is to make a living as an author and the only way to do this is to have many books on the market. The whole ‘one-book per year’ tempo is a bit slow for my liking. With indie publishing, I can set my own pace which is fantastic (and dangerous – It’s easy to over-commit!).

Tune in next week for my 100-day book marketing challenge!

What else can you achieve in 100 days?

• Save for a goal. Put aside $10 a day and you’ll have $1000 towards a holiday, enough to pay for editing and a book cover, or towards another goal. Does $10 a day sound like a lot? It’s the equivalent of two cups of takeaways coffees per day. Still too much? Start with a dollar a day.
• Run 10km. Never run in your life? You don’t know what you’re missing out on. For writers running is a great way to stay active and fit as well as have dedicated time to think about the stories you want to write. Running is a great time for brainstorming. Add 100m to your run each day and after 100 days you’re successfully running 10km. How simple is that?
• Learn the basics of a foreign language. I love being bilingual. It allows you to see the world in different ways and communicate with more people. While a hundred new words won’t make you fluent, it’s a great start if you’re planning an overseas trip or just want to challenge your brain. Try to pick up one new word each day and by the end of the 100 days, you should be able to at least introduce yourself, order a coffee or ask for directions.
• Increase your book/services/products sales. Do one marketing tactic each day for a hundred days and you are guaranteed to see results and boost a stagnating business. You can use paid advertising, direct contact, talking to friends, posting on social media. Just one thing a day will have a massive impact after three months. 

100 days is enough to achieve many goals. 

There are 365 days in the year. That allows you to focus on 3 goals for 100 days each. The other 65 days can be free days that you allow for mishaps and hurdles and generally the thing we call life. 

I dare you to take the 100-day challenge and see the effects for yourself. 

It’s hard to commit for a lifetime but 100 days can change your life. 

Do you want to make it even easier? Get yourself an accountability partner. Find someone who wants to achieve a goal (it doesn’t have to be the same goal as yours) and use each other to check in and stay motivated for the duration of the 100 days.

Take it up a notch and set up rewards and punishment for not achieving your mini goals. For example, if you fail to meet a deadline you have to pay your friend $50 or clean their house. If you win the 100-day challenge, then you treat yourself to a nice lunch, or a book, or whatever you feel is appropriate and relates to your goal. 

What would you like to achieve in the next 100 days?

 * The first 100-days cheat sheet download coming soon!