Out With The Old, Bring On The New!

As 2018 comes to a close and we get ready to kick off a brand new year, we as humans have a tendency to look back at the past year and judge ourselves, usually a little too harshly, on our performance.  Being no exception to that, I will generally hash and re-hash every move I made this last year, beat myself to a pulp over the bad decisions, and give myself very little credit for the wise ones.

Why do we do that to ourselves?  Some might say we do it to make sure we don’t repeat the past.  A solid argument for sure.  There were definitely some moves I made this year that I hope I’m smart enough to not repeat.  Some might say we do it because we have regrets.   Maybe, but speaking only for myself, I generally don’t waste a lot of time or energy on regrets.  I mean, regretting something doesn’t change it, so…what’s the point?  I guess I’d rather acknowledge that I screwed up, accept that I took my lumps for it, and move forward.  Easier said than done sometimes, I’ll admit, but for sure worth the effort if you can manage it.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”.  This past year I for sure did my share of both.  The wins were the highest of the high and life-changing.  The lessons….well they were lessons.  Not nearly as much fun, but just as necessary as the wins, I believe. 

The lessons are where you not only learn about your own character, but also about the character of your friends, your business associates…pretty much everyone you have dealings of any kind with.  So lessons, although painful sometimes, are good.  They make you smarter, stronger.  They teach you how to keep your circle small, and the kind of people you want inside your circle.

And that’s ultimately a very good thing.  Yes, the wins are more fun, and make better photo collages or slide shows, but the lessons can be just as life-altering, if not more.

So, instead of beating ourselves up for the poor choices or bad decisions we made during the year, why not instead focus on what we actually learned?  And the resulting positive changes we made in our lives because of them—you know, the whole silver lining thing.  I know it may sound a little Polyanna, but if the start of a brand new year isn’t the time to look for the good inside the bad, then when?  I mean, do you really want to carry all that negative energy into the new year?  That’s a pretty heavy load—I say just put it down.  Put it down and walk away.  Even if you can’t yet bring yourself to acknowledge that something good will come from it, at the very least don’t drag it around anymore.  You’ll have a lot of new stuff coming at you this year—gotta keep both hands free to juggle all those balls in the air.

So, there’s my advice for anyone who’s interested.  Go ahead and look back, review, evaluate, and then leave it where it is.  Get ready for the new experiences and adventures coming our way.  It’s a new year and it promises to be eventful—I say we just go ahead and make it epic!

Who’s in?!

Here’s to 2019—Happy New Year!