2016 May Not Have Been As Bad As You Think

*originally posted on www.themogulmillennial.com*

Within the past few weeks, I have read too many articles, Facebook posts, IG captions, and tweets hailing 2016 as the absolute, worst year ever.

Everywhere you look, 2016 is being hailed as the devil’s year; the Wall Street Journal even released a guide on how to “bid good riddance to the worst year ever.”

While 2016 definitely wasn’t a perfect year (hundreds of more unarmed black man were killed, many LGBTQ people were killed in the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States, the War in Syria worsened, Hurricane Matthew left hundreds dead, and some of our favorite celebrities passed away), you shouldn’t let 2016 leave you in shambles.

Before we continue to deem 2016 as the worst year ever, we need to take an inventory of our wins and what we have learned. Somehow, I believe that labeling 2016 as the “worst year ever” has been a contagious catch-phrase, thus producing negative feelings and an outlook on our own life.

Before 2016 ends, I want you to take a close look at your life and celebrate YOURSELF. By doing so, you are not bragging or boasting, but you are simply giving yourself credit and I believe that credit is well overdue. Sometimes I think celebrating your wins (or even realizing what those wins are) can be difficult. It can be difficult for a number of reasons:

• We were born and raised in a society where celebrating ourselves was discouraged; by doing so you could be labeled as conceited.
• We have a nasty case of comparison complex and strive for unrealistic perfection. We are reluctant to acknowledge our successes because we are too busy comparing our wins to those that we admire.
• We lack confidence in ourselves, and thus become unaware of our own greatness. We take our achievements for granted, and instead of recognizing our wins, we doubt ourselves and question our worthiness.

We have to remember that there is a reason why we were invited to have a seat at the table. We are more qualified and greater than we may think. So while you may think 2016 wasn’t the best for you, really look at everything that has happened in your life this year. Maybe you didn’t get that new job at your dream company, but that new skill that you learned or that internal promotion that you received has not only increased your pay but made you more marketable. Yes, maybe you didn’t get to launch your own blog or business, but you have raised awareness on your personal brand by contributing to media outlets and have increased your social media presence and engagement. Maybe your business didn’t get the funding that you dreamed, but you attended a conference or meet-up and met some pretty influential people. Possibly a close friend or family became sick or passed away, but somehow you gained the strength to keep pushing and learned how to cope even through all the pain and shittyness that life can throw at us.

In the event you have trouble discovering your own wins, try one (or all) of the strategies below. When you are done, let me know what your wins were in 2016 and the lessons you have learned.

1.Ask your family and friends what they have observed about you as a person and your personal growth.

-Sometimes we have trouble seeing the beauty that others see in ourselves. Ask your family and friends what they have seen in you this year and you may recognize your own growth and development.

2. Talk to your boss and coworkers.

-Your boss and coworkers spend the most time with you. It’s highly possible that they have noticed your professional growth and the things that you have done in the office to make the work processes easier.

3.Pull out your LinkedIn, look at old social media posts, and grab a paper and pen.

-By looking at your social media profiles and posts, you will see the big and small things that you discussed online in 2016. Even if it was a small, random tweet about how you ‘just lost 10 lbs’ or published a blog post on “XYZ” random site, these are still wins and should be celebrated. Because we post so much on social media and get caught up in our own busy world, we forget about even the tiniest bragging moments that we shared with the world on social media.

4. Have some alone time

-Turn off your phone and literally just sit and think about your year. If your mind drifts to the negative, think about what you learned from those bad situations, because believe it or not, a lesson learned is still a win gained.