Have You Had Enough?

If you’re like a lot of people, you’re happy to put 2016 behind you.  Wow, so much bad stuff happened.  

There are fewer of us, it seems, who feel like we gave a lot to 2016 and it gave a lot back.  We look at what happened and don’t judge it as bad or good, necessarily.  We simply acknowledge that it happened.  We acknowledge that we have – or had – feelings about what happened.  Most likely, what occurred in 2016 didn’t happen TO you.  It happened as a result of any number of circumstances.

As you’re wrapping up 2016 and heading into 2017, consider what this coming year will hold.  Consider your feelings as you look back and reflect on your state of mind as you look ahead.

So often we look back with relief and look ahead with hope.  

Sometimes we look back wistfully and look ahead with dread or apprehension as if to say, “dang, if that’s what last year held, I’ve got to really protect myself from what’s coming up.”  And that’s not a style that’s tied merely to a year’s end.  Some people live their lives month-to-month, week-to-week, day-to-day, and moment-to-moment that way.  

Do you know people like that?  They’re stressed out about what’s coming and what they have to do.  They don’t like going to work.  They’re not thrilled about coming home.  There’s a lot of energy that goes into fighting off the bad things that might happen.  And guess what.  In their eyes, the things that happen are done to them.  You know, that person that cut you off on the freeway didn’t wake up with your schedule in mind to do that to you.  They’re in their own space of competing with the world.  How you react or respond is entirely up to you.  

Yes, the guy that tailgates me is irritating.  Being cut off while driving gets my attention and it’s not always the kindest.  And yet, I don’t live there.  I’m not in a road-rage mindset.  I don’t live in the apprehension space, donning mental armor for the battle that might happen.  

And so, as 2017 approaches, I’m excited!

Personally, I have traded apprehension for curiosity!  I look back at 2016 with gratitude, not relief.  I brought a lot to 2016 and I got a l0t out of it.  (The Significance Factor hit #1 in three different categories and that wasn’t just accidental.) I didn’t sit by and hope to write a book or live in the apprehension of it being judged by others.  I took action.  I gave and I learned.  A lot of things didn’t go my way and yet, a lot of things did.  What I make of that is up to me.  

And what you make of your year/month/week/day/moment is up to you.  

2017 holds a lot of amazing things in store for each of us.  You’re reading this because you’ve chosen to be a part of a group of thinkers who wants to be better.  I’m not apprehensive; rather I’m curious about what 2017 will bring.  And I say that knowing full well that it’s what I bring to the year that determines what it will offer back to me.  

I’ve got a growth plan for myself, so I know that 2017 will be amazing.  I have goals, not resolutions.  I have action steps lined up.  No, not all the details are fleshed out.  I know the direction I’m heading and I know the first steps to take. I stay curious and prepare for the next steps in my journey.  

What about you?  What are you headed toward and what are you bringing with you?  Are you curious or apprehensive?  Are you excited by possibility or frozen with fear and overwhelm?

I’m reminded of a martial arts truism of how the samurai lived:

Calm, But Alert

Relaxed, But Ready

Smooth, But Sharp

Humble, But Confident

With that in mind, as you close out your 2016 and prepare to put up a new calendar, I have two questions for you:

1. At this time next year, who will you be?  That is, if you were to become an even better version of yourself, who would that be?
2. How will you be?  How will you get there, how will you practice, what do you need to do or not do to be that better you?

Please leave me a note and let me know what you’re working on!  That will help me to help you specifically and it will help me to help others who are in the same boat as you.  If you want some suggestions, I can guide you to some good books and/or other programs that will propel you.  

2017 is your year!  Bring it!  Get in/on a program that’s going to propel you to new heights!  Rock it!

See you next year!
~ Dr P ~