At the end of the year, I like to take some time to think about how my year has been, start planning for the new year and remind myself that it is time to just chill a little and celebrate.

I am a person who is mostly task oriented and I am always looking towards the future, so much so that I do not always appreciate the beauty of the present. Like right now, as I am thinking about Christmas celebrations, I am also fretting about how much money we will be spending on gifts, decorations and dinner etc.

Not that we celebrate extravagantly but as per defined by Gretchen Rubin, I am without a doubt an under-buyer. I hate buying anything in excess and let’s face it, Christmas is a lot about abundance of everything.

Learning to get into the swing of things

One of my not so loveable quirk is that it irritates me when we have too much food in the fridge and cupboards, not just during Christmas but all year round. I think my husband will agree that this underbuying tendency does not make for a pleasant Christmas shopping experience at times.

The point is that my need to think about our consumption and purchase does at times make it trying for me to enjoy the holidays but once I get into the swing of things, I suddenly remember why we do this and I do thoroughly enjoy the festive celebrations then.

Planning for the future but forgetting about the present

Many of us tend to plan for the future but at the same time feel thoroughly deflated about the seemingly lack of progress in our present. Like going to the gym to lose weight, you slog it out week in week out and can hardly see the progress for weeks and months. Suddenly, there it is, the results are finally evident and you think to yourself that it was all worth it in the end.

Building a business is the same really. You may turn up every day, you know after your morning routines, your planning, your email and you do the work but the truth is it all feels like you are not really making a dent till you sit back one day, a day like today perhaps and suddenly, you think to yourself, I have made progress after all.

When I worked in a corporate company, I didn’t feel like what I did made a difference on a daily basis because there is often very little feedback. Although you tend to hear nothing but feedback when you fail to do something. Hmm, strange that.

We always notice what we’ve failed to do but fail to notice what has been done.

I have projects on hand that can feel like it is hardly going anywhere. Like writing my book, writing my articles or posting on social media. A lot of these things have no direct feedback and no direct output i.e. in payment so it can feel like I am preaching to crickets. I notice the lack of feedback and I notice the lack of direct output but at the same time I failed to notice the progress going on under the surface.

5 Things I have gained over the past year

At the beginning of the year, I had an idea for a book in mind but no real structure or plan to get my book written or what I need to do around the perimeters of writing my book. But now, I have clarity in my head for what needs to happen for my book to be a viable project.

At the beginning of the year, I only had an inkling of my purpose ahead but now my purpose is clear.

At the beginning of the year I was still humming and hawing over whether I should further my studies and now I am officially a student again albeit part-time.

At the beginning of the year, I was still on the fence about going all in with the writing and was desperately seeking other work that distracted me from my dream. Whilst I can’t say that I do not still have the occasional urge to leap back into the security of a normal 9 to 5, I can say that I have talked myself off the Linkedin job application ledge many times successfully.

At the beginning of the year, I have felt mentally trapped. You know, moments when you just feel frustrated by not getting anywhere or being stuck but then guilty about feeling that way because you have plenty to be happy with? That’s how I felt.

As the year went on, I understood that to feel less trapped, I needed clarity in where I am going and how I will get there. I have spent a long time on the why and this year was spent on the what and the how of my life goals. Now, I feel much clearer with where I am going and how to get there and because of that clarity, I feel less trapped.

Clarity in your goals sets you free.

Celebrate the tangible and intangible achievements

Now that we are at the last month of the year, it is time for you to appreciate all that you have achieved.

Both the tangible and intangible. If you have taken the year to get your anxiety under control or took the plunge and started your own business. Perhaps you have taken the whole year to drum up the courage to finally leave your toxic relationships behind or you have spent the year building your dream home or used the whole year to build up a consistent workout habit.

Celebrate them all, don’t discount anything.

Now, let’s talk about the new year shall we?

Personally, I prefer to see my year in the form of the person I wish to grow into rather than just things I wants to achieve. I do this because I find that we can get carried away with just trying to achieve goals that we forget the importance of being grounded in who we are.

For example, for the year 2020 I envision myself being a disciplined person investing more effort and consistency to the work I do and I also envision myself having a bigger sense of appreciation in my daily moments and not just wait till I achieve something major be it personally or professionally.

I am sure you have done all sorts of planning exercises and used all sorts of tools, but I just want to help you bring it back to basics.

This time round let’s just focus on you.  Not just external goals. How do you wish to grow as a person?

To do that I would like to invite you to do your self-envisioning process with me. Over a period of 5 days from the 1^st to the 5^th of Jan, I will be posting a short video per day talking about questions that gets you thinking about the person you wish to become in the new year.

We will talk about what needs to happen for you to become that person, the new standards you want to set for yourself, we will also cover what are some of the things you need to let go off so you can move forward instead of living in the past.

We will then touch on how you will challenge yourself and grow and lastly, how to apply your renewed sense of self to your daily living because just having this on a piece of paper is pointless.

This is absolutely free of charge and to participate simply click on the button below to let me and yourself know you are ready.