Reflecting on 2023, looking towards 2024...

I will be honest from the outset, this article is more of a stamp in time for myself, an article I want to be able to look back on one year from now, as I sit down at the same time next year, and once again reflect on my year. However, there are some prompts and pointers for you too!

I am a huge fan of self-reflection, it forms a core part of our coaching and our products. Whether this is for students, staff and more recently a sports organisation. What a journey so far.

Personally, I reflect daily, weekly, monthly and in this case yearly. Self-reflection helps to build self-awareness, it allows us to recognise our strengths, our wins, as well as our weaknesses, our losses. It allows us to see what is working, what is perhaps not working and what needs improving. This is it in a brief explanation, but the concept as a whole is a huge one for me.

Working out who we are as people, where we are fulfilled, areas we are less fulfilled, allows us to gain a collective picture of our lives, ultimately serving both our mental wellbeing and our personal growth.

I feel it is very important we spend time reflecting, in our modern busy lives, we often get caught up on 'what next', 'more, more, more' and further striving, as a result of this we often only think about moving forward. Whilst, this can serve us, in terms of moving our life in a direction we want to and growing as individuals, I also think it is vital we stop to recognise how far we have come.

If I was to look back five years ago and someone told me I would be doing this now, I would have snapped your hands off for the opportunity.

So how has this year been for me?

I like to assess my areas in terms of core key areas, the core key areas which are built into our products. These are mainly (Physical Health, Emotional Health, Social/fun, Career & Business, Relationships, personal growth and spiritual growth).

I will not go into huge detail on all of these areas, I spend the time looking at these weekly, but I wanted to look back on the year as a whole, noting my wins, some losses, as well as some of the areas I want to get better in, whilst paying attention to 2024.

Health & Fitness

For me, my health and fitness is now a key area (It never used to be). I feel in the modern world, we often forget this, and can be encouraged to work numerous hours, 'grind' and I know so many people who wear 'hours worked' like a badge of honour. I also used to spend every single weekend without fail, drinking and partying for three days straight, as I tried to run away from the fact I was deeply miserable.

Don't get me wrong, I encourage strong work ethic, but I also really encourage looking after yourself physically, especially when it comes to your mental wellbeing. I also encourage a balanced life, and I am not t-total personally, but I have made significant improvements from my partying days.

This is a key message here, your health and fitness goals should be relevant to you. It is not about what everyone else tells you to do. It is solely down to you. If you are happy with where you are at, then continue, if you are not, you can make changes.

Some of my personal notable achievements this year fitness wise have been.

• Running the David Goggin's 4 x 4 x 4 challenge in January (48 miles in 48 hours)
• Completing 200 press ups every day in April.
• Running my personal best time in both a 2 mile and 3 mile run.

I am also finishing this year with a smaller fitness goal of 100 miles in 4 weeks, simply to maintain my fitness levels as I go. I am about 20 miles short of this, but I know it is getting completed.

I have ONE FITNESS goal only next year, and this small challenge is part of this process...

I also completed:

• 101 days alcohol free

Again, some people will be completely 't-total' and If this works for you, then I encourage you to continue. If this works for you, keep going.

For some, they may have challenges with alcohol, and for others, they have a healthy relationship. Everything is personal.

For me, my relationship has improved greatly, I will continue to assess it, and I will keep a close eye on it to make sure it stays where I would like.

The old me would not have been able to think of anything else to do on a weekend besides sitting in a pub, this year has been a lot different.

I have also paid closer attention to the foods I eat and my health as a whole, I am not 'perfect', nor do I f******g want to be (I love cheesecake and chocolate), but I have made improvements collectively over time. I often engage in other tools which benefit my health such as regular cold therapy, as well as heat therapy such as saunas. I am not giving you a lecture here like I am your doctor, I do these things because they make me feel good. Do what works for you.

Journal prompt: What is your number one health / fitness goal for next year?

Career and Business

In terms of career and business I feel we have continued to grow and impact more people. This has been a big win. I feel on a personal standpoint, my coaching has got better (due to more hours at it) and we have had some big wins this year working with clients such as Hull KR, Local Councils, Tracerco, Beyond Housing, Network Rail, Baltic Apprenticeships, Fuel, and others from the Growth Planner Co. side of the business. In terms of Semester Student Planner we have grown our work with some more local colleges and Universities to, including the likes of Carlisle College, Hartlepool College, Teesside University, and others, working with both staff and students. We have seen growth and we have some great things in place for 2024.

I have also attended some great speaking events this year such as sales, success and service, international men's day, as well as some other public speaking events. Overall, my public speaking has improved, but I do intend to get even better next year and I already have two public speaking events booked in for next year.

Never-ending self-improvement

Overall, it has been a good year. It has had many challenges to (as many businesses do) but in terms of an overall assessment, I am happy.

• I personally hit my sales target of X (I set a personal target this year in terms of sales, and I was able to achieve it), it might be small in terms of what some people aim for, but it was right for me personally. It might be 'playing small' to some, but again, everyone is different. I have set a goal to increase this next year, and improve in terms of my skillset. This is again about small consistent improvement.
• We hired our first employee, a wonderful content creator, who we hope can support us with our goals, whilst we support her with her own.

Personally, I do not want to sacrifice my health in terms of simply hitting bigger numbers and targets. I have been guilty of this in the past (and still can be guilty of falling into this trap at times) but one of my goals next year ties in with ensuring I live a more balanced life. I trust in myself and my skillset that with consistent personal growth, I will reap the benefits. I am in this field for the long game. I cannot ever see myself stepping out of this profession. I love it.

Journal prompt: What is your number one career goal for next year?

Personal Growth

I set a fairly 'loose' Personal Growth goal in the sense it could not be measured. I have a philosophy of seeking constant self-improvement as you may have gathered. I feel I have done this.

Me and my business partner have also recently acquired a business mentor, we hope that he can help us in terms of improving our business. He has experience of building companies and he is pushing us both. This has been a great experience so far.

Spiritual Growth

I do not hide from the fact I am really interested in the spiritual aspect to life itself. Again, many years ago, I would have laughed you out the pub if you even mentioned the word. Now, I am open minded to trying new things, and I admit myself that I am simply on a search for 'inner peace', I have continued to read into this subject a lot, getting into nature a lot more. It has helped my mental wellbeing.

• I also achieved my goal of acquiring a camper van (Genuinely, the best thing I have ever f*****g purchased in my life).

Social/Fun

I set a personal goal to visit 3 x new travel destinations, and I managed to complete the following:

• Iceland
• Barbados

I also have Copenhagen booked for a short city break in early January, falling just outside of my goal.

Next year, I want to continue to travel and I also have Venice to look forward to which is locked in.

One of my lifetime goals is a big 'around the world trip' again, something I experienced many years ago.

I am a big fan of travel, and whilst I have been fortunate to experience some amazing places already, I do feel I have only scratched the surface.

Next year I am planning much more adventure in my camping van too, ensuring I make the time on a weekend as much as possible, to get out and have fun. I love wild camping and I love my camper van, and sometimes I neglect this as much as I would like.

I am planning a getaway to Scotland in the upcoming Christmas break. I cannot wait!

Journal prompt: What goals do you have for adventure and fun next year?

I strongly encourage you not to neglect this area of your life, there is more to life than simply working. In the book 'regrets of the dying' by Bronnie Ware one of the biggest regrets was 'I wish I had not worked so hard.'

Again, whilst I am not discouraging work ethic, I am also reminding myself that one day we will all be dead, and I know for a fact I will lie on my death bed thinking of the memories I had, not just the work I done.

I have been guilty in the past of associating so much of my identity to work, and there is so much more to us as humans than this alone. I love what I do, but I f*****g love so many aspects to life too. You are so much more than your career alone.

What didn't I do?

In terms of these above goals, I also set some other goals at the start of the year and throughout, which did not materialise.

• Write another self-help book.

In regards to this, I do have a full draft complete which needs some editing, my plan is to still achieve the release of this book, but I have not dedicated anywhere near enough time to it as I would have liked. Dipping in and out and being inconsistent. My plan is to have this complete next year to support our coaching workshops.

• Start a podcast

I have always wanted to kickstart a podcast, after first being involved many years ago (Which I loved). A lack of priority has been a big factor here, understanding I cannot achieve everything and my focus being elsewhere. I am not majorly disappointed by this, but should this goal come into fruition in the future, it needs to be catered in and planned accordingly, instead of simply having it as an another idea.

• Run a wellbeing retreat

We did attempt to kickstart this project, but in truth, we did not dedicate enough time to it and similar factors happened as above. As a result, we did not sell the event we created in time, and this goal fell by the wayside as we moved into other areas.

Will this be a future goal? Our whole philosophy is personal growth and mental wellbeing, so it could be something that kickstarts again. I want it too, however, at present I am not going to pay to much attention to this, as on reflection, other areas need focus first.

Journal Prompt: Are there any goals you set this year which you did not achieve?

Reflect on these. Why did you not achieve them? Are they still important? Why are they important? Could you restart it?

Concluding

It is worth nothing that everybody's goals look different. At times I have been guilty of falling into the 'comparison trap', thinking I am not good enough, mounting pressure on myself and having struggling moments. We all do. Its normal.

However, on reflection, I can say honestly that I am happy with the year that I have had and I want to continue to improve and get better. I have my goals set for next year, and just like I have done, I will continue to reflect on them and keep assessing where I am at in terms of my own personal growth and mental wellbeing.

Part of the philosophy we teach is encouraging others to do the same. We do not just teach these concepts, we live them ourselves.

Journal prompt: How was your year overall? Are you happy with the outcomes you have achieved? Where would you most like to improve?

Concluding

In concluding, as we draw to a close of the working year, I want to wish you all a great Christmas and I hope you all have a fantastic time. I am personally taking some real time out of the business, to reflect more, think about next year, and come into 2024 all guns blazing.

I expect my Christmas to continue with my health habits, to pack it with adventure and fun, and spend it with loved ones. I hope you put down the laptop and do the same.

As a final point, If you are looking for support on mental wellbeing & personal growth in 2024, whether this be coaching workshops, public speaking events, or sexy planners and journals, then please get in touch. It is always worth a conversation.