If you are scratching your head and wondering what happened to 2019 then you can take comfort in the fact you are not alone.
It often feels like time is going by faster. While logic tells you that’s not possible, it’s very possible for the days to go by quickly with little time to pause, ponder and reflect.
So as you head into the summer festivities, Christmas celebrations (if you celebrate it) and a new year it’s a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
It’s easy to miss the moments that really matter. The moments of learning, connection and wonder. The moments when you learned something about yourself or someone else. The moments when you made a difference, and the moments when you stepped away from something you shouldn’t have.
Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Ellen Langer, was one of the early researchers into the benefits of mindfulness practices. She said: “Life consists only of moments, nothing matters more than that. So, if you make the moment matter, it all matters. You can be mindful, you can be mindless. You can win, you can lose. The worst case is to be mindless and lose.”
Life is gloriously and sometimes frustratingly unpredictable, whilst also being filled with moments that can feel on the surface as insignificant and routine. We learn from all of them.
Take some time to consider the moments throughout 2019 that have shaped your year, left an imprint in some way or perhaps surprised you.
And then consider these five questions:
- Where did you make a difference this year?
- Where did you step away from being courageous?
- What did you learn about yourself this year?
- What are you most proud of?
- What are you most grateful for?
For me, 2019 has been filled with many, many learning opportunities, and I am forever grateful for them. That’s not to say it’s been easy. In the immediate aftermath the experience sometime doesn’t feel like fun, but it’s by searching for the learning from those hard moments that we learn the most about ourselves – who we are and what we are capable of.
As this is the last of these weekly insights for 2019, I wanted to pause for a moment to thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read my weekly ponderings, and for sharing your thoughts and ideas. I love hearing from you.
I am thankful for the amazing clients – new and old – that I continue to work with. I am thankful and inspired by the amazing people I have met and spent time with throughout the year.
Thank you to my support team, in particular, Lisa Davis who continues to go the extra mile in making everything come together. Thank you, as always, for the love and encouragement I get from my husband, Craig, and the cuddles from our pooch, Barney.
To you and your loved ones, have a wonderful festive season whatever it entails.
See you in 2020!
Getting you ready for tomorrow, today®.
Michelle Gibbings is a workplace expert who works with global leaders and teams to help them get fit for the future of work. She is the Author of ‘Step Up: How to Build Your Influence at Work’ and ‘Career Leap: How to Reinvent and Liberate Your Career’. For more information: www.michellegibbings.com or contact michelle@michellegibbings.com.