3 Things You Should Do in 2021 to Achieve Your Potential

How many times, as the year begins, have you told yourself: “This is my year!.” The best part of every new year is that sense of possibility, of opportunity to achieve our potential. As a result, a lot of us make goals (or new year’s resolutions). Unfortunately, by February, 80% of those are abandoned. 

Why is that? In many cases, this is the result of setting unrealistic, moonshot-type goals that are not attainable. That’s because you have not developed underlying habits that can serve as a foundation to achieve your potential:

• health
• focus
• time management

Today I want to share what I believe are the 3 most important things you should do in 2021 to achieve your potential:

1. Sleep well
2. Meditate
3. Own your calendar

3 Things You Should Do to Achieve Your Potential

1) Sleep Well

Forget eating and exercising. Ok, don’t ignore them, but let’s be clear, the first step to taking care of your health is sleeping well. And, the benefits are tremendous. From reduced risk of weight gain, heart disease & stroke to improved immune function and better social interactions, sleeping well sets the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

I try to sleep between 6 and 8 hours every night. And because I am an early riser, it means I usually go to sleep early. I use Sleep Cycle, an app that tracks and analyzes my sleep. It shows that in the last 6 months:

• I am going to bed at 9:46 pm (in average)
• I am waking up in at 5:33 am (in average)
• Which means I am getting around 8 hours of sleep per night

Sleeping well improves your cognitive functions, allows you to focus and concentrate better, and increases your productivity. Therefore, if you want to achieve your potential, the first step you have to take is ensuring you are sleeping well. Plus, it’s much more attainable than exercising and sticking to healthy foods. 

2) Meditate

If you want to get better at focusing, I strongly encourage you to meditate. First, it will help you with the first point, as studies show that meditation can help you sleep better. Not only that, meditating keeps your brain from aging, can positively impact your perception and feelings, and is as effective as anti-depressants for depression or anxiety.

I have been meditating – using the app Calm – for the last five months, every day, usually right after I wake up, and it helps me:

• Start my day with positive vibes
• Regulate my breathing immediately before I work out
• Align with my purpose

Just as sleeping well does, meditation improves your cognitive functions,  focus, and concentration, which are vital if you want to achieve your potential. And just as sleeping well, meditating is very attainable. You don’t need any special equipment or go to a specific place to do it. You need to start. Here’s a good starting point. 

3) Own Your Calendar

You will not be able to achieve your potential if you don’t own your time. In this busy world of ours, you might feel at times like you have no control over how your time is spent. Time management helps you do more with less, make better decisions, and reduce stress in general. An excellent first step to reclaim your time is to own your calendar.

Personally, I use a 3-step strategy:

• Enter everything I have to do in my calendar. For example, I have a recurring event every day from noon to 1 pm called “Lunch.” This way, people know this time is blocked for me to have lunch and won’t be available for other calls or meetings. 
• Make use of the “Focus Time” feature in Outlook, which automatically blocks time in my calendar to focus and not be distracted.
• Set up the right expectations with your colleagues, friends, and family. Your calendar is sacred. Only in exceptional cases should you make changes – especially last minute – to your calendar. Always leave some free time so people can book time with you.

The best part of owning your calendar is that you will have the time to do the things you love. Reckon you want to work on your personal development, on your passion project, or spend time with your friends and family. All of which help you achieve your potential, therefore reclaiming your time is necessary. 

2020 was a crazy year, so let’s make 2021 count. To close, I want to leave you with this excerpt from Ayodeji Awosika, who writes: “Most people half try. They don’t follow directions explicitly. They follow directions minus the hard parts, so they can say they tried. The right way to experiment involves giving it your all then analyzing the results. There will be times where you find the advice was bad and that you should go in a different direction. But you’ll never truly know that if you half-assed it.”

Don’t forget you can connect with me here. 

All the best,

Jorge