The year is coming to an end and so is the series of newsletters “Strong Ending”. For some of us it was a good time, for others it was a difficult time, but regardless, it can be very helpful to reach a closure and to properly wrap this year up.

Look back and think about everything that has happened this year and make sure that your experiences, the good ones and the bad ones, don’t disappear without a trace at the turn of the year.  They all contain important information or an important lesson if only we choose to look close enough.

Here are some questions which you can ask yourself and think over when you have a quiet moment. I encourage you to write your thoughts down to make them more memorable:

• What have I achieved this year?  (Don’t look only at the big and important things! Include the small things that are so easy to overlook or forget, as well).
• What have I learnt or how have I developed? (These things are usually connected to the challenges which we successfully took on, or to those, that we weren’t entirely successful with).
•  Which people have impressed, influenced or supported me? (It is nice to meet them again in your memory and to feel the gratitude towards them or to simply say “thank you”. Sometimes people don’t know how important or meaningful the meeting with them was for you!)
• Which difficulties or obstacles have I overcome or managed to get out of the way?  Be proud of yourself!
• What wishes or dreams have I fulfilled or developed? How can I build on them in the future?

Anthony Robbins said once: “If your life is worth living, it is worth recording.” Write about your experiences and reflections and observe how you are growing and changing over the years, and what patterns get repeated regularly.

So now that we have looked back and analyzed the events and lessons of the passing year it is time to celebrate. Have fun, relax and take yourself and your achievement serious enough to properly celebrate them. The enthusiasm and lightness that come with celebrating give us the energy, passion and perseverance that we need to carry on, not to forget the anticipation of the next celebration! Too often we move from one task to another, or from one year to another, without finding an appropriate closure and without rewarding ourselves with a proper celebration. 

I wish you, and myself, a lot of fun, joy and happiness, and I look forward to another year with the “Reflections” after a short festive season break.

Happy holidays!

Quotes

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

What is important is to keep learning, to enjoy challenge, and to tolerate ambiguity. In the end there are no certain answers.

Martina Horner

The more I give myself permission to live in the moment and enjoy it without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better I feel about the quality of my work.

Wayne Dyer