This is not another February post about love, singles, and couples, or how to get through the gripping chills of winter.
This is a post to keep you productive throughout this month so you will feel happy and fulfilled by the end of the month.
At the beginning of this year, I wrote a blog post on 5 simple tips to get you through January, and by the end of January, I had major accomplishments to show for following through some of these tips.
It’s February! Another month. Another milestone. It is another opportunity to share with you 5 tips that will keep you ahead of your goals and help you have a productive month.
Let’s dive in!
The first tip I will be sharing with you for the month of February is:
Be Consistent
I’ll start with this snippet of a post I saw on Forbes, “Most business owners desire consistency in so many ways. They would like a consistent inflow of work. They would like consistent great reviews. They would like consistent income. But yet they fail to behave in a consistent way carrying out daily tasks that deliver all of those things.”
You might not be a business owner or an entrepreneur. But whatever you might be or aspire to be, consistency will get you there.
Consistency is the ability to be patient and keep working even when you don’t get results.
And, consistency will only work if you believe strongly that what you are doing will yield results i.e you have seen it work for others or it is a principle that works.
When you lack consistency, you will expect to get results immediately after you start something new. But in most cases, life doesn’t work that way.
So, be consistent.
It’s hard. I must tell you.
But, let me share something I did. I gave myself a test.
I decided to do something consistently without checking if it will yield results or not and after a month, I realise how much progress I had made.
This was something I couldn’t see in the first three days, the first week or the first two weeks I started.
That is to say, even though it doesn’t look like you’re making progress, keep at it.
Start Now
At the beginning of this year, you probably made a resolution.
Well! Hello! It’s February. How far have you gone with it?
If you have made some progress, give yourself a pat on the back.
If you haven’t started at all, kindly pay more attention to this section of the article.
One of the reasons you haven’t started is because you are looking for the perfect time and hour to do it.
Your idea, dream, or plan is so big that you believe you need a special day to work on it and bring it to life.
Well! Newsflash! That special day will never come because there is no special day.
If you don’t start now, get ready to feel bad when other people who started when you didn’t, start making progress.
Another thing you should know is sometimes, starting now also means not waiting for everything to be perfect.
You might ask yourself, why should I start now? I don’t have all I need to start now.
But remember, you don’t need to have it all together. You don’t need a perfect setting or the perfect tool.
Do you want to start a youtube vlog? You don’t need the perfect led light or video editing tool.
Do you want to start a website or blog? You don’t need the perfect domain, the perfect website design, or even the perfect laptop.
Do you want to start a business? You don’t need to be motivated or have all your ideas together.
All you need to do is start and before you know it, everything will fall in place.
Stop Mindless Scrolling
Mindless scrolling is when you spend an extended length of time on social media with no purpose – rather than actively getting involved with social media (for example, by posting comments or messaging friends) – you are scrolling through your feed without giving it a second thought. (source)
In February, quit mindless scrolling. It will not only hurt your eyes, but it will also waste your time.
All the time you ought to use for productive activities will be wasted on nothing else but scrolling through social media.
Social media has no end to it. It is possible to spend the whole day on social media reading the latest gossip, stalking friends and celebrities, watching funny videos, and reading memes.
And by the time you check how much time you have expended, you will realize there were other important things (like your resolutions and plans) you could have done.
Learn to Say No
We are in that season of our lives where everyone needs our help. Everyone wants you to help with something. Everyone wants you to work for free. Everyone wants to consult you for this and that.
It is great to help others but if you help others at the detriment of your time, health, and availability, you will not only hate yourself, you will also not deliver your best for the things that matter.
So, learn to say No.
You don’t have to help everybody. You don’t have to do what everyone expects of you.
If someone needs your help, you can advise them on what to do or let them know you have a busy schedule.
It is even better to say no outrightly than promise you will help them and then fail to show up.
When you first start saying No, you might look like the bad guy. You might even feel like one. But with time, people will come to respect you for it and you will also be grateful you made the right choice for yourself.
It’s not bad to choose you first.
Upgrade your Skills
Whether you are a business owner, a content creator, an employee, or a student, this month, look forward to upgrading your skills.
Don’t become stale.
Upgrading your skill can make you relevant in your place of work. It can get you more client and in turn, make you more money. Upgrading your skills can also help you pitch for better jobs and opportunities.
The more you develop yourself, the more valuable you become. If you want to reach for more opportunities and remain relevant, then learn something new about your career or business.
Show your present client, potential clients, and people watching you on the side that you have something tangible to offer.
And one extra motivational tip for you
Don’t Give Up
For creatives and people with big dreams, we are tempted every day to give up.
But it will be a shame to give up on the beautiful dreams you have and the beautiful visions only you can see.
So, Don’t Give Up.
Keep going.
There are times you will get tired, times you will feel like what you see will never materialize.
But I must tell you, it will take a while, but you will achieve it all. It will take a while but you will win.
Get started! Get productive,! And don’t give up.
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Ensure you do your best this February because if you don’t start now, in 27 days, you will wish you had started.
I wish you the best of this month!!
