Itâs hard to believe another calendar year is coming to a close.
Has it been what you expected?
What did you accomplish?
Iâve become a believer in the art and delight of celebration.
Part of celebrating means âreverse engineeringâ what worked well and why.
As part of reflecting on your previous 11-12 months, I invite you to fill in the following prompts:
#1 List your most frequent THOUGHTS (3-5 thoughts/life area)
Have you ever noticed – really, really noticed – the constant stream of thinking?
Thereâs the thinking you âhearâ and then all the thinking that doesnât even catch your attention.
Hereâs a scenario: Next time you are parked at a stoplight, notice the thinking.
You might notice the âabout themâ thoughts: âThat car sure is going fastâŚâ or âI wonder where theyâre going todayâŚâ
Then thereâs the thinking you donât even notice – paying attention to the lights, whether anyoneâs in the crosswalks, keeping your foot on the brake. Thereâs so much thinking that you donât even pay attention to or you might lose your mind. Ha!
Now, think of your largest projects in the past year, things like your health, your business or career, your family, your romantic relationship, the relationship with yourself.
Write down all of those life areas and list your top 3-5 thoughts about each one.
Are your habitual thoughts expansive, loving, and creative?
Or are they contractive, judgmental, and limit your possibilities?
When youâre done with this exercise, you might see opportunities to practice new thoughts in each of your primary life areas next year. List 2-3 thoughts youâd love to practice on purpose.
#2 List your most frequent FEELINGS (3 âexpansiveâ or âpositiveâ and 3 âcontractiveâ or ânegativeâ)
Most of us have feeling habits.
Our habit feelings come from our habitual, default, unexamined thinking.
Reflecting back on the year past, what are your most common feelings?
I donât like to label feelings âpositiveâ or ânegativeâ but it is a shortcut description for most of us.
Feelings are powerful indicators of where our minds are at.
I do not expect myself to be âhappyâ or âpositiveâ all the time. I mean, goodness!, my dog has no worries in this life and sometimes sheâs impatient and worried like during a noisy thunder storm.
All humans with our sophisticated minds have a range of high vibe and low vibe feelings.
What are your most common go-to feelings?
Look at those life areas again. Write your top feelings for each one.
You might see âbusiness/careerâ and feel proud, stuck, challenged, bored, supported, or frustrated.
When you see your most frequent feelings, do you see opportunities for adjustments?
What changes would you like to make next year?
#3 Decide what youâd like to practice next year
The exercises to write down your list of most frequent thoughts and feelings is essentially an invitation to increase awareness of your habit of mind.
After all, we become what we think, feel, and do on repeat.
The coming new year is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what you want to create in your life.
When you know what you want to create, you can reverse engineer your way into what youâd likely be thinking and feeling to make those wishes come true.
And I, for one, really believe you can make your dreams come true.
Letâs have fun with these exercisesâŚand see what we learn about ourselves in the process!
P.S. I invite you to fall in love with the âLess Stress, More Funâ podcast. Subscribe today! Each weekâs episodes offer smart, fun ideas to reduce stress and boost your sense of playfulness.