"Program your environment for success" Dr Phil
Dr Phil says it best, if you want to achieve success in whatever it is you set out to do, you must first enable that success. Take a look at what you're doing. Decide what works, and importantly, what doesn't. Shake things up, try new ways of doing what you're doing, make goals and make them measurable (ie. I'd like to write 1000 words on my novel by the end of the week, not I'd like to work more on my novel by the end of the week). Here are a few ways you can make your physical space more conducive to encouraging personal and professional success.

Desk

• have what you need within reach
  
• throw out pens that don't work, sharpen pencils that are blunt, and no, you do not need 25 pen and pencil options, simplify
  
• have a recycle bin for waste paper
  
• keep it simple, don't distract with too much 'personal stuff' ie. photographs pinned up behind the computer, papers that don't relate to the work you're trying to achieve
  
• adjust your chair and if it just isn't working or you, invest in one that does
  
• keep a jug of water close by

You can't have the mountains, you can have the Tibetan prayer flags. Photo by nickgoesglobal.
Apartment / Bedroom

• put up a calender, use it
  
• clean: vacuum, dust, wipe and put stuff where stuff belongs
  
• declutter: make places for everything and put everything in it's home
  
• have stuff that inspires positive thinking: framed photos, Tibetan prayer flags, vogue fashion spreads, bobble head toys, photos of orangutans, lace drapes, fresh flowers, glow in the dark stickers on the roof, fairy lights, twister doona/duvae cover, words like 'success' or 'triumph' or 'prosperity' or 'victory' scrawled in lipstick on your mirror
  
• make a space for work and a space for rest/play etc
  
• clean out wardrobe: unworn for months? donate/sell
  
• open the curtains and the windows, let in the natural light and fresh air

Computer and Online

• clean up your desktop, make folders, use them, update your wallpaper, create a notepad file on your desktop for recording random thoughts and information
  
• clear your email inbox, reply to everything that requires response, set up folders/tags and file or archive important notes
  
• make a contact list or add contact details to your address book so that you have access to important email addresses in one location
  
• use your Google calender, sync it with your phone (if it has the capability)
  
• make a list daily, keep focus, tick it off as you go
  
• streamline your social media accounts, make sure your avatar is the same across all
  
• clean up your internet presence, if you don't check in on myspace anymore, save what you need to and delete the account (be aware of where you exist online and what potential impact old accounts/blogs have on what you're trying to do online now)
  
• spell and grammar check your blog posts

Plan your week with a weekly moleskine. Photo by Arwens Abendstern.

Etc

• create schedule (for bloggers this could be for when you post and when you use social media, for those studying at university it could be when you fit in uni work around your social activities, for runners it could be setting out when to jog and when to focus on resistance training as well as taking breaks), set out rewards for meeting set schedules (a day off, a meal out, that necklace you spied on etsy, or a trip to the cinema perhaps)
  
• take a look at your budget, or create one, see if you could be saving more, set fiscal goals
  
• if you own or want to own your own small business, research business planning and start working on your own
  
• find role models and learn about how they achieved success, work towards emulating admirable qualities and build on them with your own style
  
• check your diet, have any Christmas eating habits stuck with you and found their way into the new year, are you eating excess food that you would not ordinarily (ie. chocolate covered after dinner mints, salted nuts)?

Now open a blank page in word or your paper journal and write the introduction you'll give when you meet someone new at an industry conference in 5 years time. Who are you? What is your job/role? What do you do every day? Why do you do it? What have you achieved? Why are you so great? What's working for you? What's next?

Create your first set of measurable goals. Those you will have completed by the weeks end. Write a second list that is for monthly completion. Now do what you'll achieve this year. Make each list measurable. For example, if you are considering your blog, rather than stating "I will gain more readers", try "I will gain 500 subscribers", if you're considering your school, instead of stating "I will study more", try "I will achieve Distinctions".


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What are you doing to enable yourself for success? What's your goal for this week?