Wrapping Up 2021: Turning the Page from To-Do to Ta-Da!

Every Friday around 2pm, I used to sense a quickly increasing anxiety spurred by the status of my week’s To-Do List. It was as if the items crossed off on my To-Do List had become invisible, and all I saw, framed by flashing red lights, were the items that remained uncrossed off, the ones I didn’t quite get to.

In that state of being,?focused?quickly morphed into?frantic, which of course made me even less effective in those final few hours of the workweek.

Look, I’m an ambitious person with a “glass half full” outlook. As a result, I often am overly optimistic about what I can accomplish, loading up my To-Do List with every possible task I can sweep up from the corners of my consciousness. Gathered together, they comprise a list so lengthy that I can hardly read through it, much less?work?through it. So there I would I find myself at the end of each workweek, stuck in the shadow of should-haves, deflated by to-dos that never got done.

Can you relate?

When December rolls around, each day starts to resemble a ‘roided up version of the “Friday frantics.” I look at my intentions for the past year and start to plot how I might possibly redeem myself: Oh my, I was so good at exercising every day last January, but then I slowed and slowed to slug-status. Crap!…I better slap on some sweatpants (better known these days as “my loungewear”) and unearth my stationary bike from a mountain of clothes I set on it to hang-dry six months ago.

If you’re like me, you may be at peak risk at this point in December of realizing that redemption can’t happen?quite?that quickly. You might have moved on to lamenting resolutions long lost, likely found somewhere in the vicinity of last February. You may be harping on the hopes and plans that didn’t quite come to fruition. You may be feeling trapped by the tyranny of the unticked to-dos.

Right about now (like,?right now!), it’s time to put away that To-Do List. Turn the page in that Bullet Journal (seriously, did they intend that pun?!) to a fresh new space.

Now, you get to create the list that really matters, the one that will honor you and your efforts. The list that will consider the challenges you faced down, and that will transform your grumbles into growth: The Ta-Da List.

A Ta-Da List is kind of like a reverse To-Do List. Instead of looking forward to the time ahead of you and listing how you will fill it, you look behind you to time past and note how you?did?fill it. On a Friday afternoon, my Ta-Da List may include things like, “Finally made appointment with allergist.” “Took a brisk walk two consecutive days in the midst of feeling unmotivated and fatigued.” “Engaged with social media to share my work.” “Reached out to so-and-so.” “Delivered X keynote address.” “Took that nap I really needed.”

My 2021 Ta-Da List includes: I got my family out of the house to regularly bask in the glory of California nature. I continued to speak my truth, choosing integrity over people-pleasing. I got more comfortable with taking some risks without assured reward, including by trying new ways of connecting (like this newsletter)! I moved the needle on equitable pay for women of color by helping orgs develop paid models for DEIB experts. I loved the heck out of my children, teaching goodness to them and learning goodness from them. I brought my business back with a vengeance after a difficult 2020. I finally created and launched our new website. I discovered and marinated in a new sisterhood that feeds my soul. I persisted in the face of a chronic pain condition that was particularly bad this year, by digging deeper into my resourcefulness and self-grace. When I needed help, I sought it. I treasured the wonderful people who enrich my work and my life. With gratitude and awe, I somehow got through this epically exhausting pandemic year.

I encourage you to take ten minutes right now to jot down your 2021 Ta-Da List. I list below some questions that can help you get your Ta-Da List started:

1. What did you do this past year that you hadn’t done the year before?
2. What were your top two challenges this past year, and how did you face them, cope with them, and work through them?
3. What did you do this year that made you feel happy?
4. What did you get recognition from others for doing?
5. For what do you wish you had received recognition?
6. What goals did you meet?
7. What new priorities upended your plans, and how did you deal with them?
8. What lessons did you learn this past year?

Like me, you may notice that a lot of your Ta-Das never lived on any of your To-Do lists! Unseen challenges are faced with invisible strengths unless we take a moment to look for them.

So stop thinking about what you didn’t get to this year when you should be marveling at the sheer breadth and depth of what you?have?created and accomplished, with due recognition to the unexpected tasks that magically appeared and the challenges that materialized to obstruct your path. How did you persist? What did you resist? When did you simply and bravely exist? (Some years - like the past few we have been living through - just surviving is the predominant Ta-Da, and that is more than okay.)

Doing this exercise will help you honor you and remind you of your resilience, your capacity for excellence, and your adaptability. It will help you see how you are not just a box-checker, but are actually a box-breaker, bringing to your life and challenges aspects of your amazingness you perhaps hadn't even noticed. By taking this crucial moment to shift from a To-Do to a Ta-Da mentality, you can end the year on the up-note you deserve and start off 2022 from a place of greater power and peace.

Cheers to that, and cheers to you! I am raising my proverbial glass half-full in your honor.

(This post was adapted from a previous year's blog post on the Belong Blog. Check it out for our past writing and insights!)