Reflecting on a Great Year

Welcome to the final weeks of 2016!  With the rush and excitement of the holidays it’s easy to get wrapped up in all the excitement.  Spending time with family, friends, and even your pets can make it a thankful time of the year.  With all the hustle and bustle be sure to schedule time to reflect.  It could be 5 minutes or 30 minutes, however long you think you will need to fully reflect on everything that happened this year  Grab some paper and pencil and get ready to reflect.  Here are some tips to help you get the most from your reflection.

Successes - Write down some of your successes?  Not just the big ones, but the small ones.  Maybe you received a promotion, perhaps you’re on a pro-staff, or maybe you got married.  Or you finally achieved a new personal best catch, or took a small trip, or perhaps you were able to spend a handful of nights alone with your significant other.  Whatever it is, write it down.  Then add what made those events possible below them.  Things like, trying new waters, staying consistent, dedicated, etc.  

Failures - Why would you want to reflect on a negative thing like failures?  Well, because you can and should learn from them.  Grabbing your paper and pencil write down some of your failures.  Again, big and small ones.  After you write those down, add what you think caused those issues below them.  ALSO, and don’t forget this step, write down what you learned from these failures.  What did you take away?  Sometimes we struggle and figuring out what we can take away.  It could be that you learned not to do something, to try a different approach, learn a new trick of the trade, etc.  

You have one more section to write down after your successes and failures, and that’s what you’re thankful for.  Whether it’s family, friends, pro-staff, job, pets, experiences, etc.  write them down.  Again it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small add them to your list.

Now that you have written the big and small things that happened to you and things you are thankful for this past year take second and breath.  Close your eyes and let your mind and body relax.  Then open your eyes and read through your list.  Think of and smile at your successes, read what you learned from your failures and conjour up ideas of how you can use the things you learned in the future.  Finally, read through everything you are thankful for.  This list are people, things, experiences, that help make you who you are today.  They helped you through those rough times and will help you in the future.  Be thankful for being alive and having such experiences.  

Congratulations on having a fabulous year.  I hope 2017 is filled with many great experiences for you and that you will grow even more and achieve or get closer to your goals and dreams.  Here’s to you and a great 2016!