Each year, I declare a theme for myself to help focus my decisions. I was walking through Homesense the other day looking for wine glasses and came across a great canvas. SHOULD, WOULD and COULD were all written down, but all were crossed out. The remaining word was DID. I knew then that 2016 is the year of action for me.
Each year, I declare a theme for myself to help focus my decisions. I was walking through Homesense the other day looking for wine glasses and came across a great canvas. I snapped a photo of it because the message was succinct and expressed what I had been struggling to put into words. SHOULD, WOULD and COULD were all written down, but all were crossed out. The remaining word was DID.
I love this time of year. The air is filled with nervous energy as people make lofty goals with great intentions. All the buzz has me, well, buzzing! But first, let’s look back on the year. Here’s my 2015 Retrospective.
I love this time of year. The air is filled with nervous energy as people make lofty goals with great intentions. All the buzz has me, well, buzzing! Before I make a declaration for the new year, I like to reflect a bit on the previous. A personal retrospective, if you will. I never really feel like I accomplish much, though admittedly, I’m always hard on myself. In fact, as I sit in Second Cup trying to craft this post, I find myself feeling like I dabbled a lot in 2015 with no real progress in any one thing. A retrospective helps to celebrate achievements, identify opportunities, and prepare to take on the new year by storm… and to remind myself that it’s okay that not everything I pursued has lead to a definitive goal. It’s that whole idea of mindfulness and being present… or whatever that thing I’m not good at doing is all about.
We’re already right into 2015, and I haven’t posted my goals for the year as yet! Well, it’s time to change that. I’ve already declared 2015 to be the year where I focus on mountain skills. But with several themes for the year, there are many goals I’d like to accomplish:
The time leading up to the new year is always exciting for me. It’s when I allow myself some time to reflect on the successes of the closing year, what worked and did not work, and a focus for the upcoming year.
My plan for this year (which is similar to others years) is to think of what would fuel me on a personal and emotional level. From there, I can make a declaration of how I want the year to go, after which I can create action items to ensure that the year aligns with the declared theme.
Well that year went by quickly! Okay, 2014 isn’t completely over yet, but with the grand Everest adventure just a day away, it feels like a nice day for accountability.
Honestly, I can’t help wondering where 2014 went. I had quite a few goals and I started strong with a great focus. Inevitably, life happened. I enrolled in a personal leadership and life coaching program that has taken up a bulk of my time. It’s not that I was derailed from what I wanted to achieve, but perhaps I took on too many things, and found myself dabbling more often than seeing everything to fruition. Lesson learned. I’m gearing up for 2015 to be the best year ever with a clear focus, but first, it’s time for a quick roundup. I’ve copied the post from January, now with added reflection!
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 