Thank you 2021 for all the lessons!
As human beings we tend to be fond of new beginnings. As another year ends, one can say that most people are on a reflective mood and begin thinking about their upcoming goals.
Rather than focusing on how most New Year Resolution’s fail or how they can easily be forgotten, let’s focus on self-reflection and see if we can use it to not only make plans but also create positive changes to improve ourselves in the new year.
We could begin this reflection by answering the following 3 questions:
How would you describe the last 12 months in one sentence?
What was your common mental state throughout the past year?
What things would you like to improve for next year and why?
Give yourself about 3-5 minutes to do the 3 questions above. Really take a moment to reflect on this past year. After answering the questions above, let's delve deeper into everything that happened in the last year that contributed to your growth.
“A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.”
You made it through another year because you didn’t quit! Maybe there were times that you thought you did but all you did was rest and here you are, welcoming 2022.
To start things off, let’s talk about your wins. Although the pandemic may have ruined some of the things you looked forward to, it’s important to know there were still a lot of opportunities that surfaced in this unique environment.
Write down the biggest wins that you had this year and how it affected you. Your proudest moments, accomplishments, whether it be directly or indirectly because of your doing, it should be celebrated!
Even the little ones that you might think may not be significant is important to recognize because these very small wins will turn to the very big ones given enough time.
“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do every day.”
Give some time to reflect on the less fortunate instances that happened in the past year. This is important in order to improve on these particular instances. We need to be conscious about the things that we do after these so-called “losses”. The self-care we employ, the breaks we give ourselves, and the space that we allow ourselves to be in so we can bounce back and come back to the grind are as important as recognizing what happened in the actual loss.
Write down those losses, the feelings after, and what you did to come out ahead and try again. These lows are important because it sets you up to more meaningful successes. These, too, if you can believe, needs to be celebrated! Our journeys will become more colourful and inspiring with these experiences.
Sometimes, a loss is just a win in the making and we need to be able to program ourselves to accept that fact and give ourselves time for everything to come into place. If you think about it, it’s only a ‘failure’ if you do not learn from it.
“Only the harshest personal experiences open our eyes to the immaculate possibilities and the splendor of our world.”
Since we’re already talking about the hard stuff, really dig deep into what made this year a little extra challenging. Sometimes we are met with challenges that makes the results we expected a little bit longer to attain despite the efforts. Maybe you haven’t attained those results this year but that’s okay. This new year will be another chance.
Write all the challenges that might have prevented you from reaching your desired result and how the challenges molded you to become a better person and instigated growth in you.
Challenges are not such a bad thing and by doing this, we recognize that, and we become receptive to challenges.
Now, we will move on to what we have learned in this past year about this pandemic, events, and ourselves.
“It’s so difficult, isn’t it? To see what’s going on when you’re in the absolute middle of something? It’s only with hindsight we can see things for what they are.”
Sometimes we only see the good or the purpose when everything is behind us. That is why we push through and know that there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.
Take these last moments of this reflective exercise to reiterate what you have learned this year.
After enumerating these learnings, take a step further and create an action plan and commit. How will you apply what you have learned in the past year to your lifestyle, work ethic, personal life, etc. in this upcoming year? What are you willing to change to have a better outcome in 2022?
We hope this exercise has helped you with some realizations, rediscovery, and more importantly growth that you can bring into the new year.
Have a Happy & Prosperous New Year!
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