Past Wisdom, Your Future Growth

Wow, it’s hard to believe that it’s a New Year already, and what a challenging couple of years it’s been.?You may have heard 2021 described as a “dumpster-fire of a year.”?I don’t believe it’s a stretch, to say that most of us experienced a diminished sense of predictability and control due to ongoing global events, which many of us confronted for the first time in our lives.?And yet these events also highlighted the things we deem most important, such as our health, our relationships, our values, our sense of freedom, our time and, how we choose to prioritize that valuable time given our short and precious lives.

The reality is, you’ve already weathered some of the most difficult storms of your life, some of which were extremely challenging.?

You wouldn’t be here reading this today if it were not for the strength, wisdom, belief, faith, and resources that reside within you.?So, take a moment to pause, to bring to light and clarify what those resources are, with a goal of increasing your resiliency during the storms of life that as we fully know, will rise, and thankfully, eventually fall into our past.

I invite you to engage in this simple self-reflective exercise and I encourage you to write out your responses.?This mindful exercise only takes a few moments.?It will help you uncover the lessons you’ve learned over the past year and helps you take that wisdom into the upcoming year.?There are no wrong answers.?Pause and reflect on the questions below by exploring how specific events shaped and moved you from; where you were, to where you are now, toward who you want to become.

Last Year:

• As you look back on the past year, if it were a chapter title in your Book of Life,?what title or name would you give your journey over the past year? Eg. “The Storm” or “Year of Hell”, "I'm a Survivor" or “A Time of Reflection” etc.
• What’s one thing you are most grateful for about last year? E.g. realizing how precious health or relationships are, taking time to get outdoors etc.
• What was the greatest challenge you had and/or life lesson you gained from last year? E.g. coping with loss, illness, disappointment, or dealing with boredom etc.
• How did you achieve or overcome that challenge or life lesson? E.g. Focusing more on what I’m grateful for, setting boundaries with others, or establishing a healthy exercise routine etc.
• How might those skills or life lessons be useful for you in your present or future??For example, having walked through loss, or death of a loved one, I now choose to be more intentional about staying connected to those I care about both now and in the future.?If this skill or lesson helped in your past, how can it benefit you in the present??

This Year:

• What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming year?
• What is the greatest challenge you potentially see upcoming this year?
• What resources do you have that will help overcome those challenges?
• If you're to give this upcoming year a name, as if it were a chapter title of your Book of Life, what would you name this year, or this chapter? E.g. “The Year of Mindfully Being Me”

Finally, I’m wondering, what stood out most for you with this exercise??What resources, skills or strengths are you now noticing???Take a moment to share or list them for your own reference. What will help remind you of them, for example, would it help to keep these questions and your responses handy so you can access them when you need to?

Our past has a way of shaping our future. It's about taking conscious control of that process, to learn from our mistakes, to improve our decision making and ultimately to make our life direction and our world, as fulfilling and meaningful as possible while becoming inward strong.

Wishing you a meaningful New Year and all your years to come

-An inspired path is an enlightened one

Best of health & warmest regards, Paul

Paul is an internationally awarded therapist, speaker and tech founder. Among the awards Paul has received- "Best Innovator Award," "Outstanding Addictions Professional Award," "Outstanding Service and Contribution in the Field of Mental Health," in 2019 he was an award finalist for the GIDSS Foundation “International Peace Award”

His online Inward Strong Program has helped organizations and thousands of individuals, and families successfully manage & monitor mental/behavioral health and other stress related issues. The program helps people and organizations, by taking the next step of getting support, getting better, more focused and becoming inward strong. "It's like having your own personal wellness coach 24/7"

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