How has the year been?

As the year winds to an end one thing we need to do is to critically assess how we have fared. If we are going to improve and make progress we must cultivate the habit of reviewing things. There is power in review. Meaningful change cannot take place with a review. As the year ends we need to review it so we can have a proper assessment of how we have spent the year.

Have we spent the year well? Did we make proper use of our resources? Did we seize and maximize the opportunities that came our way? Could things have been done differently? Did we achieve our goals? Are we on track to living our life purpose? Are we healthy?

In addition to we reviewing the year by ourselves we can also seek feedback from others. Feedback can be tough but if we will improve we need it.

“Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.” Doc Rivers

Life need not be tough. If our review shows we have fallen short in one area or the other we need not be too hard on ourselves.

“Stop Beating Yourself Up! Most personal development literature tells us to set goals and go out there to achieve it. None tells us to set goals, leave it there and forget it. As such, the mentality of people setting goals is that we must achieve the goals or we would have failed. When we don’t achieve our goals, the resulting emotions are guilt, disappointment and a sense of failure. As such, it’s natural for resolution reviews to turn into a stressful affair. With such a perspective, I cannot imagine what else it can be. My advice – stop beating yourself up! I guess this has much to do with the inculcation of our education system – you either pass or you fail. No, resolution review doesn’t have to be this way. There are many reasons why you don’t achieve your goals, and not all of them are due to your personal failure.” Lawrence Cheok

We must not make the review of the counter productive by looking at our shortcomings in the wrong perspective. We must not shoot ourselves in the foot by regret.  Regret is revisiting the past and wishing things had been done differently and the inability to change the past produces sorrow, pain, shame and guilt. It makes us think of different things we could have done differently but the problem is that it’s too late to make a change.  Regret cannot turn back the clock. Regret has no power to change the past.

Regret never wants to accept the fact that what is past is past. Regret always wants to keep us wallowing in the past thereby denying us the power of the present to create the future we desire and deserve. We must never allow regret to control us. Regret should not define or limit us. It must be dealt with decisively.

“We don’t have to be defined by the things we did or didn’t do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it’s a regret, maybe it’s not. It’s merely something that happened. Get over it.” Pittacus Lore.

I wish you a happy, prosperous new year …your best year so far.

We must review the year with the view to improve on our strengths and correct our mistakes. We must be honest with ourselves and do whatever it will take to have a better year than the one that will expire very soon.

“The ending of year is also a time when serious people want real changes in their lives. Change offers a fresh new start, a new beginning, and rightly so.” Boomy Tokan

We must do away with anything average or mediocre. Average is not a word that should be used for us. Wherever we are are average we must put steps in place to move from average to exceptional. Mediocrity is medium quality. We must aspire for and go for excellence.