As we usually do, I started our year-end review
and planning for 2017 on Thanksgiving weekend. And we're
well on our way. Perhaps it's just that I'm getting older
(and wiser?), but I deeply appreciate how important it is
to look back, extract good ideas from my own experience,
and then plan well for the future.
I love George Santayana's quote that, "Those who cannot
remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."
I'm told it applies to world affairs, but I know it definitely
applies to my own budget, my personal happiness, and my
performance in the new year. For better or worse, unless we
make very specific and determined plans for change, the
future tends to look like the past, only more so! I always
coach my clients to begin their planning with a careful review
of past performance.
The future inevitably builds on the present, and the
present is the result of past choices, habits and patterns.
In general, our past is the very best predictor of future
performance, and we want to learn all we can in order to
move forward as skillfully and boldly as possible!
It is true, of course, is that people change. Hope and
ambition are based on making changes and going boldly
forward. We all change and grow, but we tend to change
slowly. Once in a while we are transformed in a flash of
insight, but mostly we evolve. We learn. We try new things,
and (at our best) we discover new ways of doing things and
we use that knowledge to create a future that is different
and better than the past.
And so to make next year better, it's critical to ask, What
have I learned? What has life taught me? Where am I
stronger, more skilled or (perhaps) sneakier than in the
past? How will I take better advantage of opportunities in
the new year? What will I do differently?
These questions are usually best answered over time, with
thought, insight and a few notes. Sometimes they are
answered in conversation with people who know and love us.
Sometimes our mistakes are our best (and most painful)
teachers!
One reason we laugh that insanity is doing the same thing
over and over while expecting a different result, is that
we've all done it! Life tends to drift forward, with small
modifications in technology or new toys or a few more gray
hairs, but too often, too many of us go from year to year
without examining the past, and changing our behavior.
That's a common pattern, and it's a HUGE mistake!
As this year draws to a close and you plan for 2017,
challenge yourself to ask and answer better questions.
Dare to list your two or three biggest mistakes of the
year. Don't be upset over them, but study and LEARN from
them. Where did you mess up? Where did you delay too long
or rush ahead too quickly? If you see patterns or warning
signs, jot them down. You may learn something useful.
And list your best successes! How did you achieve them?
What did you do right? How did you use your brilliance,
your skills or your courage to accomplish powerful results?
Take notes--you'll want to repeat them in the future!
If your year-end review suggests some character traits
you'd like to change (something to over-come or to begin),
jot them down! Consider ways to become stronger and more
effective in the coming year. Study people who have the
quality you admire and ponder how they've achieved it. If
you're really bold, ask them for advice!
And in the coming weeks, get very clear about precisely
what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your
priorities, your values, your dreams? What's important? What
will make a difference for you and your loved ones? For now,
don't worry too much about "how" you'll pull it off, just note
what's true and what you really want in 2017. When you're
clear about "what," you'll figure out "how."
and planning for 2017 on Thanksgiving weekend. And we're
well on our way. Perhaps it's just that I'm getting older
(and wiser?), but I deeply appreciate how important it is
to look back, extract good ideas from my own experience,
and then plan well for the future.
I love George Santayana's quote that, "Those who cannot
remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."
I'm told it applies to world affairs, but I know it definitely
applies to my own budget, my personal happiness, and my
performance in the new year. For better or worse, unless we
make very specific and determined plans for change, the
future tends to look like the past, only more so! I always
coach my clients to begin their planning with a careful review
of past performance.
The future inevitably builds on the present, and the
present is the result of past choices, habits and patterns.
In general, our past is the very best predictor of future
performance, and we want to learn all we can in order to
move forward as skillfully and boldly as possible!
It is true, of course, is that people change. Hope and
ambition are based on making changes and going boldly
forward. We all change and grow, but we tend to change
slowly. Once in a while we are transformed in a flash of
insight, but mostly we evolve. We learn. We try new things,
and (at our best) we discover new ways of doing things and
we use that knowledge to create a future that is different
and better than the past.
And so to make next year better, it's critical to ask, What
have I learned? What has life taught me? Where am I
stronger, more skilled or (perhaps) sneakier than in the
past? How will I take better advantage of opportunities in
the new year? What will I do differently?
These questions are usually best answered over time, with
thought, insight and a few notes. Sometimes they are
answered in conversation with people who know and love us.
Sometimes our mistakes are our best (and most painful)
teachers!
One reason we laugh that insanity is doing the same thing
over and over while expecting a different result, is that
we've all done it! Life tends to drift forward, with small
modifications in technology or new toys or a few more gray
hairs, but too often, too many of us go from year to year
without examining the past, and changing our behavior.
That's a common pattern, and it's a HUGE mistake!
As this year draws to a close and you plan for 2017,
challenge yourself to ask and answer better questions.
Dare to list your two or three biggest mistakes of the
year. Don't be upset over them, but study and LEARN from
them. Where did you mess up? Where did you delay too long
or rush ahead too quickly? If you see patterns or warning
signs, jot them down. You may learn something useful.
And list your best successes! How did you achieve them?
What did you do right? How did you use your brilliance,
your skills or your courage to accomplish powerful results?
Take notes--you'll want to repeat them in the future!
If your year-end review suggests some character traits
you'd like to change (something to over-come or to begin),
jot them down! Consider ways to become stronger and more
effective in the coming year. Study people who have the
quality you admire and ponder how they've achieved it. If
you're really bold, ask them for advice!
And in the coming weeks, get very clear about precisely
what you want to achieve in the coming year. What are your
priorities, your values, your dreams? What's important? What
will make a difference for you and your loved ones? For now,
don't worry too much about "how" you'll pull it off, just note
what's true and what you really want in 2017. When you're
clear about "what," you'll figure out "how."
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