4 Steps to Reset Your Life

The following is adapted from The 4 Keys.

True change takes time, but you can get a powerful start by following a personalized 90-day plan. There isn’t one right way to create your plan, but you can begin your own 90-Day Reset with the following steps.

Step 1: What is the Single Biggest Challenge You Are Facing Right Now?

It’s likely that you have many challenges, but I’m asking you to focus on one per key. This may be difficult for you to decide, but I encourage you to choose the one challenge you believe will have the biggest impact within each key in the next 90 days.

If you’re like most entrepreneurs and business leaders, there are many things that keep you up at night. This is often referred to as the ‘3 a.m. club’. They lie wide awake, wondering how the hell they’re going to fix some of the challenges they face…sound familiar?

It’s no wonder we don’t have the headspace for the other facets of our lives when running a business. I sometimes think it would be much easier to get a nine-to-five job with a boss telling me what to do and avoid the stress of leading a team or running a business. But, like you, I appreciate the upside of working with my team and running my own business.

You won’t be able to fix everything in your life and business, but you’ll be able to focus on the other problems you’re facing in your next 90-Day Reset. One reset at a time, and you’ll experience dramatic progress. Take on too much at once, and you could be overwhelmed.

I started my first coaching business at 22. It was called Let’s Get Rolling. I specialised in roller-hockey tuition, and I organised hockey schools throughout the UK. I loved it. The problem was scaling the business. All the work was on weekends, apart from school holidays.

The business was built around my name, and the clubs and players wanted me to run the camps. It was impossible to scale. I would lie awake at night thinking about creating a tutorial video which would help me reach more people and scale the business, but I never did. It was an idea that never turned into action. Like many entrepreneurs, I was focused on urgent matters and letting the opportunity to tackle non-urgent projects that could make a vast difference in my business slip away.

Fast-forward 20 years, and I found that I had the exact same problem with Get Fit To Win. I realised I would never achieve my purpose of enabling one million business owners to live the lives they want if I couldn’t scale the business. This had other implications, such as time away from home and staying healthy on the road.

Step 2: What Is Your Desired Outcome in 90 Days?

In this step, you will start to think about your desired outcome. It doesn’t need to be metric-focused at this stage; it is about what you want to improve in your business and life. You may focus on how you want to feel or make others feel.

Step 3: What Are Your Options and Ideas?

What options and ideas do you have that will help you achieve your desired outcome?

This is where you get creative by giving yourself five minutes to come up with as many ideas as you can to achieve your desired outcome. This time limit keeps you from overthinking and motivates you to think and write. This is a brainstorming session, and there are no bad ideas at this point, so don’t second-guess or judge yourself. At this stage, you are not committing to anything. Capture the ideas you think will help you achieve your desired outcome in a journal.

Then, follow up on some of your ideas. Do some online research, get some feedback from friends and colleagues, or speak with someone you know who has already achieved similar goals.

Step 4: Turn Your Ideas into SMART Targets

By now, you have identified your single biggest challenge in each of your four keys, and you have also identified your desired outcomes and brainstormed ideas for each one. Now it’s time to commit and go all in. You may find this part easy, or you may have found the process frustrating. Well done for being patient with the steps! Or you may find this part difficult, as now it is time to get results-focused so you can pull the trigger and make your desired outcomes a reality.

You may also be thinking, I can’t choose one idea. I need to do them all. This is where you get disciplined and choose the option that will move you forward the most in 90 days. Remember, you will be able to focus on others in your next 90-Day Reset. Be patient with yourself. If you think you have the capacity to take on more SMART targets in each key, then go for it.

You need to decide on the best ideas and turn them into SMART targets, making each one specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant, and giving each target a time frame. Once you’ve got all those ideas, take a step back and review them. Identify which one, in each key, you want to commit to for the next 90 days. Then make it a SMART goal:

• Specific. This involves establishing how you’ll accomplish your desired outcome. What steps will you take? What will you focus on? What are your deliverables? Don’t be vague.
• Measurable. How is the target measurable? How will you know if you’re winning? Can you measure and track your success?
• Attainable. Is your goal attainable? Do you have the resources? The capacity? The skills? If you haven’t got the resources, where will you find them? It is about making it happen, not making excuses. Time is also a factor here, but I’m going to arm you with some brilliant productivity tips, so you’ll be able to find the time to achieve your desired outcome.
• Relevant. Are your specific targets and choices relevant to your vision and purpose? Do they fit with your why? Will it get you closer to that vision in 90 days?
• Time frame. What will you achieve in 30 days and in 60 days so you know you are tracking to achieve your target in 90 days?

Be realistic but ambitious about your 90-day plan, and it will serve as a powerful jumpstart as you pursue your long-term goals.

For more advice on personal development, you can find The 4 Keys on Amazon.

Andrew Sillitoe is a business psychologist, author, and speaker. His innovative approach to leadership and work-life balance has earned him invitations to work with a range of global companies, including Pfizer, Nationwide, Virgin, and the BBC. Today Andrew runs the UK’s number-one training company for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to succeed in business, health, relationships, and mindset.