Merry Christmas! It’s my favourite time of year, being around family while enjoying the electric atmosphere everywhere.

This is the time for three major success habits:

• be grateful and help others
• measure your success backwards
• be in the gain not the gap.

But Christmas is not everyone’s favourite time, so I encourage my kids to help those less fortunate.

This year we participated in the church Christmas box. We got a “girl” and “boy” box and filled them with gifts. The children who receive those boxes need clothing, toothbrushes and hairbrushes, not just toys. It’s a time to help others and remember to be grateful for what we take for granted.

My son Jakob went on a missions trip to Brazil visiting hospitals, orphanages, prisons and schools. My daughter Jessika went on a missions trip to Cambodia, visiting local villages and taking 30 cakes of soap, a precious gift to them.

It’s certainly amazing to be able to enrich others at Christmas.

Measuring Success

Measuring your success backwards is the best way to see how brilliant your year has been. When we master a new skill, we move that competency into subconscious competence and forget we didn’t have that skill a few months ago.

Stop and think, what is every little thing you’ve achieved this year? What deals have you done? What skills have you added to your repertoire? Who have you met who has helped you? What books have you read that have spurred you on and got you thinking? What have you implemented that has helped you grow? What habits have you formed or changed?

Write a list of every single thing you have done from today back to the first of January. You’ll be amazed at your results. Celebrate your success!

The gap and the gain have been one of my big learnings this year. Do you measure through the gap, always thinking what could have been better? What mistakes did you make that you shouldn’t have? That you’ve done well but ...

Natural Gappers

If you’re a natural gapper you’ll never be satisfied. You won’t see your achievements and you will feel like a failure. This is common in overachievers.

Instead, look at your year through the gain. Even with mistakes (which I call opportunities to learn), what was the gain from that mistake? What was the gain on your property projects? Your portfolio? The people you’ve met? The books you’ve read? The way your family see you? Always think in the gain. Catch yourself in the gap and turn it around. The gain is where your growth lies.

Have a happy, giving, grateful, gainful Christmas. I’ll be raising a toast to your successes and celebrating my own backwards.

If I’ve added to your success this year, let me know so I can serve you even better next year.

Merry Christmas.

Nichole Lewis is CEO at The Property Lifestyle, an international best-selling author, property mentor, public speaker and passive income expert. Creator of Property Quadrants™ formula, she helps people replace their salaries with passive income. Contact Nichole to talk property and see how she can help you nichole@thepropertylifestyle.co.nz, 021 582 107, www.thepropertylifestyle.com, www.nicholelewis.com