(ThyBlackMan.com) Change is scary. Change makes the average individual cling to the familiar. So it’s no stretch to say that at the end of one year and the beginning of another, humans are split down the middle in relation to how we adjust ourselves to change. Some scoff at the need for it; others embrace the opportunity a new year brings.
I welcome change. I don’t believe it requires a lot of extra emotional energy to reflect on how one year was spent and genuflect on the possibilities of a new year. Indeed, if we are going to become better people, we must extract lessons from our experiences.
This New Year, don’t be the person who scoffs at others who make resolutions for becoming a better people. Who are we to judge?
Somebody just may make a pledge and really stick to it. Instead, use that energy to engage in a simple, non-judgmental method for divining your own lessons and looking forward to the blessings the New Year may bring.
As one year closes and a New Year dawns, look at your wins, your losses and what they add up to.
The Wins
What Was Your Signal Achievement?
Look at each area of your life: health, finances, relationship etc. Which area did you see the most significant improvement in? Maybe you managed to lose ten pounds; perhaps you saved money; maybe you either found the perfect mate or you worked up the courage to leave a relationship that was not in your best interest. Here’s the point: you achieved something significant in some part of your life. Identify that area and hang your hat on it. It represents the building block the next year.
The Losses
What Did You Learn from Your Biggest Blunder?
By contrast, you may have – like many of us – made a huge mistake in some area of your life. Maybe you spent too much money; perhaps you didn’t get to the gym enough. Or maybe it was accepting a career change offer that turned out to be the job from hell. It could be a host of things.
The key is to ask, what did I learn? The answer to this could very well lead to greater success in the New Year.
The Profit
Who Stood by You the Most?
In the end, when we subtract our losses from our wins we end up with a profit: it’s reaffirming who you are, what you’ve accomplished and who has stood by you.
This is where it gets dicey; most people have been hurt by relationships and this causes them to clam up and not want to allow their guards down. Try to think beyond personal relationships, though. Don’t be afraid to ask: who stood by me the most? Who gave me the best advice? Who told me when I was right and when I was wrong?
In terms of interpersonal and personal relationships, the answers to those questions can mean a lifetime of lasting friendship. It could also provide in the New Year the impetus in jettisoning the people from our lives who really mean us no good.
If you know what your biggest achievements are, if you are aware of your biggest blunders and if you can identify your most endearing friendship, you are poised for a fantastic New Year!
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.