How to Make 2018 an Epic Year

From Trevor

1. Identify Your ULP (upper limit problem)
This concept comes from the book The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. He says each person has an Upper Limit Problem which is like a thermostat setting that determines how much love, success, and creativity we allow ourselves to enjoy. When things are going well for us our ULP mechanism kicks in and we suddenly start worrying about things going wrong in some way.

“Almost none of your worry thoughts have anything to do with reality”.

2. Do something that scares you.
In 2017 we talked about redefining “hard.” Ryan Hall told us, “How you define hard is how you are going to experience hard.” The truth is, what you consider hard now is only relative to your experience and moment in time. A previous version of myself would have thought that running 10 miles was hard. But now I’ve been able to do 14 marathons.

By pushing yourself to do harder and harder things you build up resilience and immunity to obstacles. Your confidence grows and you move on to bigger and bigger things. That’s why training for a marathon is life changing, it grows you into a stronger person on many levels.

Like the shout out we read from Troy in CA, who said:

“. . . I am here to tell you that not only are we capable of much more than we ever imagined, but the act of gradual intentional suffering really does transform us.  What a journey this has been.”


3. Set things in motion.
This year I got to reap the benefits of things I set in motion years ago. It’s hard to tell when things will come to fruition so the important point is to get the ball rolling. Remember that our actions have exponential effects like an investment it compounds over time. You are making decisions and taking actions today that look small but will, when added to other actions, have a huge effect.

Just signing up for a marathon is a small action that will set in motion a serious of events that can change your life. The journey to becoming a better version of yourself is taking that first step.

First you’ve got to find the courage to start. So, put a race on the calendar. Just do it. Set things in motion, and like Bart Yasso says, “Never limit where running can take you.”

From Angie

1. Evaluate
One step to setting goals that will make us happier and more successful begins with evaluation. Ask yourself a couple of questions (these are borrowed from a blog post by Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy): What worked for me last year? What didn’t work for me? Honest reflection can be one of the best tools to personal growth in any area. And goal setting really pays off when we monitor what we’re doing. This can be through a blog, computer document, calendar, journal, or pictures. The key is to track yourself periodically to make sure you’re going in the right direction. The way you set and evaluate goals often comes down to your personality type and how you respond to expectations. We’ll be interviewing Gretchen Rubin, author of The Four Tendencies, about this topic in the near future.

2. Be open to possibility.
Stay open to change and new experiences. As a type A person I can tend toward being a control freak. It would be easy for me not to try anything different or hard that might not turn out perfectly. One of the things I’ve been working on the last couple of years is to try and relax more and be open to possibility. This is something that will probably take me a lifetime to master, but meditation has been so helpful to me in creating space and quiet for my body and mind. As a result I’m less hard on myself and hopefully show more grace to other people as well.

3. Gratitude

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

One of the certainties of life is change and along with the good there are often those changes that we’d really rather do without. It was a big “aha” moment when I realized that I was responsible for my happiness. I can’t place this burden on anyone else. Keeping a mindset of gratitude, focusing on the positive, and counting the little blessings in life can go a long way to having a happier life.

Another way that I stay grateful is by minimizing optional negativity (the negative stuff that I can avoid). For me this means that I listen to very little news and watch very little TV. Another small example as an avid reader (150+ books read in 2017) is that I’ve learned to ditch books I’m not enjoying. I’m an adult and can do that 🙂 I want my leisure time to be spent on things that I truly enjoy.