One day I was walking in the park and I got an idea, I would film a video of myself giving people some tips about how to set goals and take their life to the next level. There were three simple steps, build confidence by reflecting, create clarity by identifying your desires and writing them down and activation by creating small actionable steps toward your goal.
When people take action they feel Mojovated! Its really amazing to see how excited I get when I accomplish something that I have been pushing off. There is no better feeling in the world than to know that you are fulfilling your purpose and being productive.
The problem is that there are many distractions. Those distractions take my attention away from the goal. If I was going to practice what I preached I had to remove some distractions. For me it was Facebook. It was taking up too much of my time. I love checking up on all the comments and like that people give me but its taking away my attention from my goals.
So I committed to going off Facebook for 2 weeks at the end of December so I can plan for an amazing 2016.
There were times that I would look at my phone, looking for the facebook icon, but it was gone! No notifications, no engagement. Just me and my task to get clear on my goals.
I remember thinking to myself, I really did reclaim tons of precious time. The ability for me to focus now and not get distracted by this amazing social platform is novel. It actually feels good to be off facebook at a time where everyone is tuned in to see what others are doing for the holiday. It was amazing.
I filmed 52 episodes of my new TV show on www.GrowTime.tv which is coming out on Tuesday Jan 5th 2016. Most of the episodes came out perfectly in one take because I was not distracted and I was fully focused.
CEOMojo was also relaunched and the first episode for 2016 will be going live on Friday Jan 8th 2016. I will be interviewing 52 CEOs about the things that Mojovate them! So far I already interviewed half a dozen and created the full format for the show including the intro and outro. Make sure you subscribe on ITUNES.
Created an amazing plan for GrowTime Academy where I will be launching courses for business leaders that want to grow from Average Joe to CEO.
Added a new template to JoeApfelbaum.com and started the process of putting together my personal brand website properly so I can launch it in early 2016. I am really excited about this website and the plans that I have for it.
Took the time to create a perfect Vision for Ajax Union our Digital Marketing Agency in Brooklyn. Monday Jan 4th we will have a special company meeting and review the Vision that is on the wall with the whole company so everyone is rowing in the same direction in 2016.
These two weeks were especially productive because I had the time to reflect on all the amazing people that I have met over the past year, the friend I have made and all the great things I have accomplished.
Here are some highlights.
- Weight: Lost over 75 pounds in the past 3 years, this year was my breakthrough year getting to the goal I set 3 years ago!
- Fitness: When I got down to do pushups a few years back, I was not able to do one! A trainer said that to be healthy you need to be able to do at least 30. On my birthday I got down at an EO event and did pushups with Larry Zogby.. We did more than 30 and who is counting! I also ran my fastest mile ever, sub 8 minute mile and I ran my fastest 3 miles ever in under 30 minutes. That was a huge accomplishment for a person that used to not be able to run even one block!
- Writing: I finished draft one of my book “Average Joe to CEO” and I set a goal to finish draft two in Q1 of 2016. I wrote over 40,000 words in 20 days. That really blew me away. I was so focused and pushed myself to do it. I have been talking about writing a book for years. I am so happy I got to this point.
- Video: I have been posting an impromptu video on Facebook almost everyday for the past few months. People have been telling me that they love watching my videos and they learn so much. Little do they know that I was used to be afraid of having myself on video and now I can film 52 episodes of a tv show in just a few weeks!
- Productivity: For the first time in my life I can actually say that I have an organization plan. A plan to have all my projects and tasks in a place where I know what done looks like and all the tasks that need to be acted upon to finish the project. I have an amazing Admin that is helping me stay focused and I and finishing things that I have started.
- Routine: I have optimized my morning routine. I wake up on most days by 4am and I journal, meditate, pray, read, write, exercise, eat a healthy breakfast. I never really optimized my routine like this. I used to be so reactive in my life and I feel so amazing now.
- Relationships: I have done over 1000 selfies with people that I care about in 2015 and that is up from under 500 in 2014. My relationships are deeper than ever and I feel more satisfied in all my personal and business relationships.
There are so many more accomplishments that I have reflected upon and I have set goals to take my life to a whole new level in 2016. Now it’s time for me to get back to work. I hope this article inspired you to take action and eliminate some distractions so you can build the confidence, create clarity and take action…
Happy and Healthy New Year!
Joe Apfelbaum
Ajax Union
BIO: Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO and co-founder of digital marketing agencyAjax Union. He is a public speaker, certified Google Trainer, and published business author. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about a broad range of business topics in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs Organization in Brooklyn, a group with over 11,000 CEO’s and a contributing member of the INC Business Owners Council, a community of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Joe is proud of all his accomplishments, but most of all he is proud of his successfulfoodie wife and beautiful four kids.
