This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Kids & Family

Karen's Weekly Words of Wisdom: First Quarter Madness

Who and what are the game-changers in your life right now?

As the month of March comes to a close, it's time to review and re-evaluate the progress of your plan for a successful life, career, relationships or whatever it is that you’ve decided to tackle for the year. 

If you follow the NCAA March Madness games, you may already know that some top-seeded teams have been eliminated: See Duke/Lehigh and Missouri/Norfolk State.

These popular teams were ousted by some new and improved game changers. These game changers are teams that have been holding on to second and third place for years and working on being the best. 

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The same concept applies to our personal action plans. Some people, activities and even aspirations will not make it to the second quarter of 2012. Look back on the things that you considered trivial but have proven to be rewarding, then do the same with the things that you banked on being a resource but have fallen short of success.

Sometimes these exercises are hard to do because we become emotionally attached to things and people. But they are necessary.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here are six simply techniques that you can use to assess the first quarter and to edit your plan.

Review and Clean-up: 

A)  Discard the dead weight of critics, nay-sayers and double talkers.  

B)  Remove the disappointments and negative habits out of your routine.

C) Assess your resources and add or remove them with regard to your growth.

Re-Evaluate:

A)  Restate your mission for the year.

B)  Itemize your goals for the second quarter.

C) Decide what sacrifices will be made in order to be successful.

Why wait till the end of the year to assess your progress when you can do so every quarter? People preserve their piece of mind and ensure success in their lives by making changes.

Someone that you know is being somewhat standoffish towards you and you think they’re being judgmental or ignoring you, but in all actuality, you didn't make the cut to their Final Four/Championship Game.

They want to game changers in their immediate circle. And you should have the same attitude!

About Karen St.Hilaire: Karen St. Hilaire is a certified life coach and the president of Kadence LLC. A former Bed-Stuy resident, Karen now resides in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. To learn more about Kadence, visit her website.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?