There's one person you can't trust with your next year. There's one person who will speak lies to you—more than anyone else. And I already told you how important it is to keep truth in your corner. But there's no stopping this one person. You know them. They know you.
They know exactly how to lie to you.
“There's no way you can do that.”
“You're not qualified to do that.”
“They won't help you get that done.”
“You're going to need a lot more help before you do that.”
“You're not ready.”
But that's only when they're negative.
Sometimes they go positive and it's just as bad.
“Just trust yourself, even if others say you should slow down.”
“You're the only one that understands this.”
“You don't need more planning, you need more doing.”
“All you need to do is believe.”
“This is going to be easy.”
That person is you.
Stop Lying
It doesn't matter if you lie to yourself saying nice things or mean things. It's still lying. And it will still limit your success in the new year. So stop it. And stop hanging around the people who echo your lies.
Sure, you don't have a college degree, or one from a prestigious university—so what? Lots of successful people don't.
Ok, you have a degree from Harvard—so what? Lots of alumni start companies that fail. It's the nature of the numbers.
Stop lying. Stop saying them. Stop thinking them. And stop believing them.
Embrace Truth
If you surround yourself with people who speak the truth, and you lean into what you do best, then step three is to start evaluating your goals for 2013 with your head on straight. You will never get anywhere unless you're clear about where you want to go, and the very things you are going to need to do to get there.
I wanted to write a book (regardless of size) in 2012. I ended up writing two of them. And I'm currently working on two more. I had had the same goal in 2011. But I'd done nothing because it turns out things like that don't happen magically. And things don't happen when you tell yourself you're not really an author.
So stop lying. Embrace truth. And put together a practical plan.
I know, not rocket science. But honestly, did you need rocket science or a nudge to get going?