Looking back to live forward- #47

Life must be lived forward. But, it only makes sense when we learn the lessons of the past. 

The final week of the year is a time when a lot of people sit down, assess the previous 365 days, and make some decisions about how things went in the recent past and what they might like to do in the near future. A sense of ease pervades the week almost by default (most businesses expect the hours to be slow- unless you’re in retail and doing the mad dash of post-Christmas returns). It’s the perfect time for reflection.

But I didn’t want to pause and reflect this past year. I knew from the outset the most of the goals I’d set for myself in the previous year didn’t come close to happening. And it wasn’t because I created HUGE, untenable goals, either. I hadn’t made it 5% of the way to some of them at all… 

That’s what I thought, anyway…  

Some of the goals included business goals like hitting a new rank in our company. It didn’t happen. Others included selling a specific number of books and online courses. Didn’t even come close.  Some included handling some coaching / consulting things I thought I might like to do. Never even got started. 

Of course, there were personal goals, too- things related to how I’d interact with the kids (be more present), how I’d invest time with my family (share more experiences and worry less about “stuff”).

And, yes, even spiritual growth and maturity-related things made the list… 

The truth is this: I didn’t want to assess the year, because it seemed like there wasn’t that much to assess.

But, when I took another look, I realized something strange... and eye-opening. I was actually right where I wanted to be all along. I was striving for something I already had.