An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions, and Academy Success in 2014

You would think with me being a self improvement author, that I’d be all about New Year’s Resolutions.

But honestly… I’m not all that into them.

Goal setting is something I highly recommend doing on a consistent basis in order to continue to grow yourself, but to set a few random goals once a year just because that’s what everyone else does… was always a bit silly to me.

Instead, I like to use the turn of the New Year as a point to reflect what was accomplished in the previous year, and make adjustments based on what I’d like to accomplish in the next 12 months.

So let’s check that out in 2013 for Academy Success, and discuss how 2014 will be even better.

Academy Success in 2013

2013 yielded some amazing improvements for you as an Academy Success subscriber.

Life Changing Resources

• The Lifehacker’s Manifesto – This resource brought together 10 of some of the most compelling self-improvement bloggers, including myself, and offered a lesson from each. From personal finance, to productivity, to health and fitness, these lessons provide a solid baseline for personal development.
• Output Overdrive – This premium productivity training course offers four modules delivered over 27 High Definition videos designed to teach you the productivity skills you’re not taught in school that you’ll need to be successful in life.
• Changes That Stick – Personal development is about making big life changes. This free resource outlines a simple 6 step strategy to enable you to more easily make big life changes.
• The Productivity Blueprint – As part of the release of Output Overdrive, I showed you the exact process I follow to ensure you’re always working on high value projects.

We Learned The Value of Time

• Was That Really Worth Your Time?
• Time is a Created Thing
• Become a Finisher
• Freeing Up Time for Personal Goals

We Developed a More Solid Mindset

• Conquer Your Inner Demons
• Overcoming Your Lack of Motivation
• Recognizing Your Expertise and Value
• Eliminating Laziness Through Replacement Therapy

We Improved Our Financial Habits

• Save Money on Winter Heating Costs
• Slap Convention to Take More Vacations
• Four Credit Score Myths to Stop Freaking Out Over
• Increasing Your Income With Four Simple Tactics

Academy Success in 2014

If you look at the mix of content that was released on Academy Success, one thing stands out.

While it’s all very solid, it’s only recently gotten to the point to where it can add up to helping you develop a personal change strategy, which was a content change I started implementing in the late summer of 2013.

In 2014, expect the content of Academy Success to increase in quality and become more sequentially strategic as more courses like Output Overdrive are developed to help you increase your life skill set.

You’ll notice the new tagline at the top of the site, “Life skills you don’t learn in school.” That’s what we’ll be shooting for in 2014.

And as a quick hint to what I’m working on bringing you now, survey results and reader feedback has been geared towards personal finance, so look for more content tactics and strategies to help you save, grow, and manage your money in the coming months.

From me to you, I sincerely appreciate you as an Academy Success reader, and I’m looking very forward to helping you change your life in 2014 and beyond.

PS: Do this same exercise for yourself. What do you notice about what you accomplished in 2013, and how can you shift your actions to have a better year in 2014? Choose one specific thing and let me know by hitting reply. I’ll read every email personally.