This is a good time to write down as many great things about this past year that you can remember. Hopefully this list will bring fun memories and remind you of the good times and successes you had that may be long forgotten.
Remember, by doing this, it is social proof to yourself about how much you’ve done, overcome and won in just the last 12 months. And hopefully it will inspire you for more in 2024. Get writing!
Reflect on all the good, fun, great things you did in 2021. Also consider if you have achieved as much as you wanted to in the last 365 days. 12 months is a short time and yet it is also quite a substantial amount of time.
And, if you add starting progress in one year to developing progress in a second year plus compounding progress in a third year, you could be unstoppable!
So don’t think it’s just one year. Think of each year building on itself. You’re either getting better or drifting back each year. Be conscious about that.
Build on all your good achievements this past year, big and small. Let’s 10x those in 2022. Let’s get ready so we fly out of the gate! Become unstoppable!
Wonderful or challenging, it is good to reflect on key moments of your life. It could be something many others share as a memory like Woodstock, LiveAid or 9/11. Or these memories could be something personal to you. Perhaps that time your Mom said something inspiring or your brother moved out of the house and you got his room. Whatever the memories are, it is good to reflect on key moments so you begin to understand their impact on you.
This is a great time of year to consider what you have going on and what you have achieved. You should pause and reflect on whether you like the destination that your current path is taking you to.
With our eyes open, we can see where our actions are sending us. Are you positive or negative in your thoughts and communications? Do you search for the argument or the peace? Whose life will you be shadowing if you continue down this road?
Sometimes our goals change due to a different perspective. It is good to keep checking in with ourselves. If you no longer want to arrive in Paris, it would be good to get off the motorway sooner rather than later.
You may save yourself a lot of time if you take a few moments now to consider your direction and destination. It’s not only that this is a good time of year due to the holidays and being the year end. In addition, you probably have a little more time between Christmas and New Year as things generally slow down.
Take some time and get a feel for where you are. You can also write out your major and minor achievements for the year. Where are these taking you? Did you hit the relevant goals you set out for 2020?
Pause and reflect on your past and future.
We all think that our spoken words describe something or someone else. However, what you say reflects you. What you communicate will usually tell us more about your current state of mind, values and critical thinking, than it will about your subject.
I have raised a similar thought previously in another post entitled, ‘Is fire good or bad?’. Putting that aside, what really brings this point home is what people are saying online and on Twitter about our now ICU’d Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Leadership examples:
It is fabulous to see people like Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband saying good, hopeful and helpful things at this difficult time. They could have said something political. They could have criticised his policies or judgement in handling the matter. Or they could have said nothing at all. They did not, however, and they chose to send appropriate messages of well wishing.
Meanwhile, there were people who did not send their good wishes for a speedy recovery. They did not stay quiet, nor did they offer their thoughts or prayers to him or his family. You will have to look the comments up yourself, if you want to spend your time that way.
When I see such negative and inappropriate things written, or hear them spoken, I ask myself the following: What is the worst thing that he, personally, directly and intentionally did, specifically to harm you, without any greater consideration or benefit to a wider group?
Consider intent:
It is always best to first consider the other person’s intent. What is the most important thing for them? What were they trying to achieve as the very highest priority for them? When doing this, try to remove your biases and instinctual thoughts and try to get in their shoes and understand their motivation and highest intent. It’s not easy but frequent practice will help.
I believe Mr Johnson’s overriding intent, during this pandemic, has been good. It seems clear to me that he wants to save lives, protect the NHS and support people and businesses adversely affected by the situation. This is a big and broad summary of intent. It won’t be perfect. Nothing ever is.
So the next time you choose to express yourself, take a pause first. What you say reflects you, and it’s quite revealing.
Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?
Dennis Mannering
History repeats itself. Or, more accurately, as Bon Jovi sang, in his 1980’s mega hit, Wanted Dead Or Alive, “It’s all the same, only the names will change”.
People, things, events, activities and outcomes, tend to be very similar to those in the last 200 to 2,000 years. We still eat, communicate and travel, though maybe we’ve swapped hunting for grocery stores, telegraphs for mobiles and horses for aeroplanes. It’s all the same thing, just faster, better, shinier – but you still get the same outcome.
I have to look back about 200 years, at least, to remind myself of a truer sense of the basics of life: how things were without the modern world overlaid on it.
If you only looked back 50 years, you’d still think Final Salary Pensions were the norm and home ownership should be in the region of 70%, etc. You could fool yourself into thinking that things are getting worse or that this new generation is missing out on all the great things that the last one had.
The reality is though, that the last several decades have dramatically skewed many people’s view of the world and what expectations people might or should have. Now if you want to suffer the deep challenges of the Expectation versus Reality Gap, go right ahead and think about life based on recent history.
However, if you want to overcome this ER Gap trap that can lead you into darkness and a depressive state, then I highly recommend thinking about things through a 200 – 500 year lens to remind you how far things have actually progressed. And yet, it’s all the same.
Many people tend to live on autopilot. It’s simple and easy. Consistent and comfortable. But it’s not ideal when you want to change something in your life.
You need to stop and think. Yes, think. You’ve got to switch off the autopilot and switch on the manual control.
You will have to puzzle over the item. See it from different perspectives, not just your usual one. And, it’s hard work if you are not in the habit of doing this. But it does get easier the more you do it and train your brain.
Relax. Try to see how things could be different if your thoughts shifted a little.
You’re in control.
Enjoy that feeling.
