Reflections and the Year Ahead

December is always a time for me to look in the mirror and review my annual binder of what I did in the year. I love sinking into holiday time off with little or no agenda and just stop and think for a minute if I am living the life I really want to.

This year for sure will have some high points for me: sold a home, moved into an apartment, helped my daughter transfer schools, moved my other daughter from one apartment to another, remodeled a home 3 hours away, launched a book in October and did my best to perform at a high level in my job with John Deere. I also dedicated 5 weekends to personal development to help me listen better and ask better questions and ended up learning so much more(credit Co-Active Training Institute and about 160 fellow classmates and instructors). My health and that of my family is good, something I'm enormously thankful for. Soon I will be celebrating 30 years of marriage and 35 years with John Deere. We lost my wife's dear sister Nicole to a brave fight with cancer much too young in life, and this year marked 10 years since I lost my father. I think about him every day.

I'm not quite done processing 2022 yet, and there is more to come in December I'm sure, but much has happened and I have a lot of "thank you" cards to distribute to so many who helped me. That will happen between now and 1 Jan 2023.

As I cast my mind to 2023 I think I'm going to double down on taking a look at my personal growth. Specifically I want to focus my personal development on four areas in 2023:

1) Lifelong learning: I'm going to review all the ways I'm learning. Some new things coming on podcasts, substack, and social media that are more adaptive and timely than traditional learning. Writing a book the last 2 years was an awesome learning adventure (I recommend it to all of you), but I'm probably not going to take on a major project like that in 2023.

2) Emotional Maturity: As my listening skills have improved, I've developed more patience for others to tell their story. As I've slowed down my mind to listen more and talk less, I've found that I actually learn more. My natural tendency is a bias to action, and that means often taking action pre-maturely I've found out. I've learned that the best action often is revealed upon further dialogue and listening, with patience and a resonant conversation.

3) Making better decisions: Kind of related to #2 above, I'm going to try to take my decision making to the next level. I've got a book on order to kick this off - Jim Loehr, EdD . - "Wise Decisions - A Science Based Approach to Making Better Decisions", but I'm sure I will learn the most from practicing day to day. In general I want to make better personal decisions - like in managing my energy (for me this is code to managing my exercise, diet, and sleep), and more regularly mapping my priorities to my purpose.

4) Priorities and Initiative: What must I stop doing to make room for what wants to happen? For what needs to happen? What should I take the initiative to do in 2023? I need to do a true calendar test in Dec to review if I lived my values in 2022, and from what I learn I need to seriously apply it to my priorities in 2023. One long term trend that won't be broken is I will always prioritize family above most all else. The picture in this article is of my family celebrating my birthday recently.

Whatever your circumstances are at the moment, December is a great month to take stock in your life.

If your 2022 didn't end up like you wanted, always remember Zig Ziglar's encouragement, "You don't drown by falling into deep water, you drown by staying there." Your past does not have to equal your future. If you are happy with how 2022 went, awesome, lets do it again. But something important to remember, whether you were successful or not in 2022, you have to show up in 2023 and make it happen in the moment. Onward and upward, forever forward. Every step a day stronger and more alive.

As you look to 2023, be hopeful, optimistic, with an abundant mentality and allow yourself to dream a little about how good it can possibly be. Then go get after it!

Thank you for reading?The River, and if you have enjoyed it please subscribe to receive notification of future articles. Please help spread the word by sharing The River with your network with an encouraging word asking others to check it out. A special thank you to those of you who have posted comments to share your experience and advice. I'm grateful as these interactions inspire me, and I'm certain it has helped others in their journey.