Closeout and start again

BY: COLLEEN LINDBERG 

Well, it’s that time again. The holiday spirit is upon us and you know what that means. It’s almost the end of 2018. I am not sure about you, but it baffles me to think that we have gotten this far in the year already. Time is flying by and I really think it’s important to reflect on that and make a decision for 2019 to get the things that we want.

So first, I do this on New Year’s Eve, but really anytime between Christmas and the start of 2019 is a great time to do a reflection on the past year. I inventory my goals from 2018 and see how close I came to achieving them. Of course, some of them I crushed out but others I totally forgot that I had even written them down. It’s common and ok, just remember we can only adjust for the future, we can’t change the past. So, through this reflection, I also ask myself “What did I learn this year?” “What were highlights of the year?” “What did I really want, and did I get it?” “What was my biggest failure?” It’s great to write this down as well, as later on in life you never know when you might want to reference it back.

Secondly, I define my goals for the next year. Taking into account what happened this past year, who I am now, what I am aiming for this next coming year. I write them down and then I print them for my goal board that I keep in my office, so they are always there for me to reflect on.

A couple other things you can do is create a vision board for you to see all your goals on it for this year. I also encourage people to create a vision for the year. A simple statement to remind you of what you are aiming for. It could be something simple like “To live a life of health, love, and connection” or “This year will be a year of personal growth, exploring new possibilities and adventure”.

Sometimes it’s hard for us to set goals. We don’t know where to start. So how about reflecting on these areas and see if there are any goals you want to set here.

1) Health – lose weight, gain weight, compete in something, explore a new activity, take a dance class, start to run, regular massages, travel/vacations

2) Career – get a promotion, look for a new job, find a way to increase your revenue

3) Personal Development – read a book a week, attend x amount of events this year, buy that course, listen/create your own podcast

4) Relationships – start dating, meet new people, sign up for the class you always wanted to attend, more social events, dinner parties, regular date nights/kids’ nights, attend more activities at your children’s school

5) Philanthropic – volunteer for a charity, attend more charity events, donate more

As you can see there are numerous things, we can set goals around, it’s up to you though to figure out what you really want this year and then from there start to put that goal into motion. Create a plan to achieve it and let’s have an amazing 2019!