From Reflection to Action

It’s hard to believe that we are just a little over 3 weeks away from the turn over of the new year.

To be honest, I am running into the holidays flat out exhausted. I’ve been working tons, my house is in a state of half decoration and half cleanliness, I really feel like I’m just managing day to day. 

As a result, I’ve had one date in mind over the past several weeks: December 18, 2023. See, that’s when I start my “backstage” time. It’s when I downshift as it were. I will still have a few coaching sessions here and there, but it’s my time to just step back, reflect on the year, and what I’ve learned, spend some time with the family, maybe finish decorating if it’s still not done, you get the gist.

One of the things I’m most excited about for this time (besides just catching my breath) is planning for the new year. I’ve had ideas in my head for weeks now, I’ve ordered a fresh planner, I’m starting to work on carving my year out differently so I can meet my goals and still love my life and my work. It will be the first full calendar year in my business, and I’m excited to see what I can do and what opportunities may come. I know for certain it won’t all go to plan, but I really love the thoughtfulness of planning, looking at the big picture - setting goals - classic overachiever I guess.

One thing I’ve done over the past couple of years, rather than do the whole resolution thing (cause that doesn’t really work for me - I prefer to set goals whenever I feel like it) - one thing I’ve done over the past few years is set a word, or intention, or as was the case for 2023, choose several words or phrases, that help me remember the direction I’d like to go, the way I’d like to grow for that year.

To write this post, I looked back at my words for 2023 to see how I’ve done. For 2023 I had several words and phrases that guided my year. When I think back to the end of 2022, a year marked with a lot of grief and loss for me, the words reflect that to some extent. But they also reflect my determination to move forward and to continue to grow. I won’t share them all, but here are a few:

• Focus: this year, I’ve had to focus on keeping focused when my circumstances changed dramatically, but also to keep focused when my mind wanted to live in fear, rather than in more productive emotions.
• Gratitude: I don’t talk about it much, but I do try to be grateful even in trying circumstances. I often am looking for the gift in the hard things. What can I learn is a question I often ask, or what might this be trying to teach me? Or if I can’t see the good, trusting that it will be for the good eventually. This word has been particularly fitting in 2023. I have learned to be both grateful and to hold space for the hard stuff too, and that I can feel both and all of that at the same time.
• Be brave: One of the phrases I used this year was “be brave.” I think when I wrote it, I meant it as just a reminder to do harder things, and to be brave enough to do this crazy idea of building my own business for the “some day” that I would need it. Little did I know that I would need it sooner than I thought, and little did I know that being brave was about being brave enough to step out on your own, be fully seen, learn all the new skills, and just keep trying and being persistent. Which leads to my final phrase…
• Action over perfection: This “recovering perfectionist” as I call myself sometimes, is not always recovering. Sometimes, I am full on in that perfectionism. This year, I have learned how to take imperfect action. And surprisingly, it works. I always gain more clarity, if needed, I make course corrections, but generally speaking, not once have I regretted taking imperfect action this year. And I’ve learned how to do it even in small ways. Finding ways to just take the best next step and then taking the one after that - and not being so all or nothing about it has been very helpful for me.

As I reflect on this year, I will also be practicing another of my phrases “be humble and curious.” I have several questions I am using to help guide my thought process and my curiosity:

• what have I learned, 
• what works/doesn’t, 
• what have I been putting off that I need to do, 
• how do I want to feel in 2024

These are just a few of the questions I’ll think through as I plan for both my personal life and my business in 2024. As my words or phrases or intentions reveal themselves to me, I’ll write them down, I’ll see what feels right. Maybe it will be one word, maybe it will be a few phrases. But that is all part of the process, and the revealing of it, to me, is just another gift.

So, as you think about leading yourself into the new year, I invite and encourage you to reflect on this past year in whatever way makes sense. Are you happy with how it went? Are you proud of who you are and what you’ve done? Are there changes you want to make?  What went great, where might there be some room for something different? What areas of your life  haven’t been getting as much attention that you’d like to have more of? These are all things to consider as you move into 2024. 

I’ll keep you posted as my process continues and reveals itself. In the meantime, if you’ve never tried this practice - maybe just start small and try it out (action over perfection!)