During the first week of the new year, there is a rush of motivated people who want to achieve their respective self-improvement goals. But then all this rush always tapers off, with only about 8 % of people actually managing to achieve their goals by the end of the year.

The Rush of Motivation

We often keep working trying to avoid something we should be doing. We bury and hide in our busyness, masking our inability to face what needs to be done. We are busy being busy, while not doing anything productive or of real value.<div></div>

Busy Avoiding Productive Work

Most of our lives are filled with the non-essential and the trivial, as we are in the survival mode. Nobody is doing what they really want to do, as it is a social and cultural norm to live on other people's terms. We try to break free from this cycle by goal setting and resolving to do something for ourselves but we sometimes fail miserably.

Survival Mode

Procrastination, or the way we let pending tasks linger on, just avoiding them, is one of the main reasons our goals don't materialize.The longer any work is avoided the harder it becomes to eventually do it.Like dishes piling up in the kitchen sink, they get harder and harder to do as the load increases.

Procrastinating

Playing or being in a playful mode is the key to dismantle fear and to achieve real productivity.Being playful leads to creativity, adaptability, better focus and memory, improved language skills, and creative problem-solving abilities. Playing also has certain social advantages like teamwork, conflict resolution, leadership skill development

Being Playful

Our bucket list is composed of the real goals we have, that are not made by society, peer pressure or our current life stage. It is the list of things you want to do, and to experience before you die. This is the real essence of what matters in your life. This is your legacy, your ultimate aim.

Ultimate Goals: The Bucket List

Your bucket list can be redefined as your ultimate adventure, your Epic Adventure, or your Quest.Cultivate your life as you truly desire, by being aggressive in weeding out the useless stuff, while focusing on people, experiences and relationships that truly matter. Get out of your rat race and find your ability to embrace your true calling by eliminating the old and stepping in the new.

Out of the Rat Race

Fear causes us to procrastinate. It can be:<ul><li>Fear of change</li><li>Fear of leaving our comfort zone</li><li>Fear of the unknown</li><li>Fear of failure</li><li>Fear of what other people would think of us</li></ul>We justify these fears by imaginary different reasons, but the root cause is not related to our invented reasons, it is our inherent fear.

Fear as the Cause of Inaction

Why do we wait until January 1 to begin living our lives "better"? Almost 50 percent of Americans set New Year's Resolutions-yet only 8 percent actually achieve those goals. In fact, over 25 percent of people who set New Year's Resolutions drop off before the end of the first week.