The New Year is one of my favorite times of the year. New beginnings, some good memories, and that fresh start we all crave once in a while.
I don’t really have new plans for this coming year, but I did use last night as a line in the sand.
The past few years have been challenging for a number of reasons, the pandemic, challenges with my career, and family stuff.
For the past two years, I’ve done an annual planning retreat in October, and it’s really helped set me up for success. I’ve accomplished far more than I thought was possible, and I have a coach who holds me accountable and challenges me to be better.
My theme for this year is to optimize my happiness and part of that was the aforementioned line in the sand.
I seem to have a pattern in my life of desperately trying to seek approval from loved ones with minimal reciprocation. The question I find myself asking though, is why am I begging and pleading for that reciprocation, or even just a minimum viable level of respect or appreciation?
That’s the thing, if we’re surrounded by the right people, that good stuff should just come. If it doesn’t, we might be surrounded by the wrong people, and I realize that I’ve been focussing on getting my needs met by the wrong people, and not focusing enough on the right people.
I realize that’s pretty cryptic, but that is because some of this is deeply personal and I haven’t figured out how to deal with it yet. But it’s getting dealt with this year, and I fully expect the process to suck. Like, really, really suck!
But through the suck, I hope to find more fulfillment and to achieve the goal of optimized happiness.
Cheers, 2021!
2022… Bring it on!