It's Your YEAR.

Christmas has come and is gone.? New YEARs is on the horizon.? As we are near the end of the YEAR, ?what are you going to call this YEAR?? What is one word that you would use to describe it?? Do you often do a “YEAR in review?”? Do you take some time to look back and celebrate your victories?? What one word comes to mind for 2024?? If you are not able to capture your YEAR in one word, don’t miss the opportunity to look back. Look back to seeing all that you got to see and do.? Look back to learning from all the situations and scenarios that you got to learn from.? Let’s take a look at your YEAR and see what we can learn from it, and maybe even give it a name.

Y-You??????????????????????????????????

You be you!? Our society tries to influence who we are.? You see it (and we all know you feel it occasionally) on social media, watching tv, spending time with your family and friends, social gatherings, or even at your church.? Spoiler Alert:? You were made to be you.? You might ask what that means, and only you can answer that question.? Being you is as easy or as difficult as you want it to be.? Only you were wired to do the things you do and have the perspectives that you do.? Only you are passionate about the things you are passionate about.? Only you can influence others the way you do.? If you are the only person who can, why on earth would you try to be someone else?? That is the greater question.? Don’t take that to mean that you can’t grow, receive constructive feedback, learn more in different areas of your personal or professional life, or pivot if you feel the need to go a different direction with your life.? You get to decide.? You and yourself, that’s all, just those two!? You need to look back at 2024 and see how your YEAR went.? Write down or journal your thoughts, and look at them through your eyes, not anyone else’s eyes.? You be you!

E-Experience????????????????????

Experiences impact outcomes.? You can take this in a couple of different ways.? Experiences can add to understanding to help you grow and succeed, and experiences can also be roadblocks that kept you from accomplishing what you had hoped to accomplish.? If you look back, I’m sure you had some of both.? That is what makes you unique.? Your 2024 was yours and not like anyone else around you in your inner circle, family, or peers at work.? Sure, you may have had some similar experiences, however each of you are on different paths.? Don’t get caught up in comparing your experiences to someone else.? Regardless if they are older or younger, everyone’s walk is different.? Your chapter may seem like someone you know, however yours is different with a separate author and separate script writer (both of those are you).? The experiences that you faced that gave you insight, energy, and joy allowed you to accomplish certain things in your life and those that you faced that caused delays, frustration, anger, and pain may have taken you down a different path away from where you thought you would end up.? Don’t focus on the different path that took you to a different place, focus on the learning that took place along the path.? What is one thing you learned from an accomplishment this YEAR that you thought you would accomplish this past YEAR?? What is one thing you learned from an experience that did not go the way you planned?? How did both of these impact your perspective and thoughts about future outcomes?? Would you consider both a learning experience?? Would you consider them positive or negative??

A-Accept?????????????????????????

Accept accomplishments!? This is a lot easier for some than others. Some celebrate when the barista spells their name correctly on their coffee (you know who they are because they tell you about it on social media), and others only celebrate larger accomplishments, or victories in their life.? Neither of these are wrong and what we can’t do is think that we can only celebrate the larger accomplishments, achievements, or so-called victories in our personal and professional lives.? What is one cool thing this week that you accomplished that you didn’t tell anyone about or even put in the family text chat?? That is an accomplishment!? You need to accept an accomplishment for what it is.? Don’t let anyone put you down for celebrating your accomplishments!! Don’t let them!!? What is one thing you need to accept as an accomplishment and momentum builder in your personal life that you have not accepted yet? What about your professional life?? I often say, “Drops fill buckets.”? The premises that eventually the drops will add up and overflow the bucket. Your accomplishments may seem like a proverbial “drop,” however eventually they will overflow your bucket and spill out into your personal and professional lives.? Take some time to sit down and list as many accomplishments as you can.? Don’t go to social media to see what you posted, unless you are using it for timelines this past YEAR. Look back to times when you remember where you felt good about what you did.? It can be as simple as running a 5k without stopping, or finishing reading 6 books this year. You get to set the threshold on what needs to be celebrated as an accomplishment.? Accept them and appreciate what you had to do to accomplish them, and for those that you learned a life lesson, celebrate the lesson you learned.? Take some time to write them down.? You may be surprised by all you accomplished!

R-Respond????????????????????????

Respond appropriately.? Respond.? Yes, take action.? What did you see in this past year that you want to change or do differently?? I’m not talking about setting resolutions next week, I’m referencing the things that you want to do to be a better you.? What habits can you change or implement to help you be more focused?? What can you eliminate to give you more time to focus on things you want to focus on?? When you look back to 2024 what areas of your personal life do you want to see some change in?? How do they align with? your overall wellness?? What about your professional or work life?? What changes do you need to make to help you be a better employee and a better peer to those who work around you?? What steps can you take to improve in the areas you need to improve in?? Who can you reach out to for feedback and advice?? Who can be an accountability partner for you?? Who can you trust with giving you honest feedback from their perspective, and not just be a cheerleader when you accomplish tasks?? Did you notice how each of these requires action to be taken?? This may take some time to determine what you need to implement and change, as well as who you can reach out to, but don’t let that stop you from wanting to make changes in your life.? We all need to make changes.? We all need to work to improve in different areas of our lives.? Create a plan and set reoccurring reminders to help you determine where you are on the path to your goal.? You need to base the frequency of the reminder based on the size and/or severity of the goal or challenge.? Do you have anyone who you can trust to follow up with you on a frequent basis to check in on you in these different areas of your life? If you don’t, you might need to spend some time reviewing friends and family to find someone who will be honest with you and give you feedback you need to grow. Growth is not always fun, but when you accomplish goals (regardless of the size) the fun begins when you can look back and see the areas you grew in.? That is fun!?

See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?? Time flies when you are having fun.? Can you honestly believe that 2024 is coming to an end?? What are you going to do in the last five days of the calendar YEAR?? The best thing about 2024 is that it allowed you to be the best You that you can be.? You be you.? Who you are is based on the experiences you faced and the outcomes that resulted. ?Not all will be positive, and not all were negative, however you can’t let that stop you from accepting the accomplishments you were able to get done.? Respond to your challenges appropriately.? Take action!? Set aside time to focus specifically on the areas that you need to work on, then work on them!? Don’t allow other things to fill the space that you set aside for personal growth.? Spend some time looking back so you can see what you need to focus on in the upcoming year.? What can you learn about what 2024 was for you and what can you do to kickstart the new YEAR?? Were you able to find one word or give 2024 a name?? What are you going to call 2025?? It’s your year, you get to call it what you want, and don’t let anyone tell you differently!!

?

Y – You be you.

E- Experiences impact outcomes.

A – Accept accomplishments.

R- Respond appropriately.

Stay safe and stay well!