Let's Look Back.....Then Forward.....

Wow, can you believe it's 2025?

"I'm glad 2024 is over...." was a comment I've heard a few times.

How was last year for you?

I've heard: “Don’t look back. That’s not where you’re headed,” but there are valuable lessons to be learned from our experiences.

As I reflected on last year, I was struck by how far many of our clients have come.

There's no greater inspiration! I got teary just thinking about what some people have overcome.

The funny thing is that I have to remind them sometimes to celebrate their accomplishments because people often focus on "how far I have to go...." rather than "Look how far I've come!"

The end of the year is a good time to consider "The Gap and the Gain."

I've written previously about the book by that title, in which the authors discuss how we become unhappy and feel like failures because we are so focused on an end result that we don't appreciate the successes we've achieved.

The authors suggest that it's more inspirational to look back at how much you’ve gained--a definitive point from THERE to HERE--rather than always chasing ever-elusive goals.

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Looking back....

⬆️ TrainSmarter hit almost every (ambitious) goal I'd set for the year. For the 10th year running, we beat all previous years' numbers. Just one (total number of clients) came up short.

I'm embarrassed to admit I spent no time celebrating such a great win. Instead, I found myself thinking, "Will I be able to beat those numbers next year?"

⬆️ My daughter told me about hearing a "fitness coach" on television comment that the CDC recommends 150 minutes of exercise a week....slyly adding, "but I think it should be more....."

Imagine how daunting it is to hear "150 minutes of exercise" when you haven't been doing 1! How about celebrating going from doing nothing to doing something?!

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Looking forward.....

Resolutions frequently fail because they're overly ambitious and people fall victim to an all-or-nothing mentality.

How about this for 2024? Choose a WORD for the year. Make it something you want to invite more of into your life. Two on the board now are "Creativity" and "Adventure."

Doesn't that sound better than "Lose 10 pounds"? 😉

It could be "Volunteer," "Journal," "Move," or in my case, "Delegate."

It's far easier to be successful when you don't put pressure on yourself to make dramatic changes.

​The key to habit change is celebrating wins. It neurologically wires behavior to the brain's reward center.

What do you want more of in your life? How will that make you feel?

Let's spend 2025 celebrating that!

I'd love to hear what you choose. Let me know how I can help.

Looking forward to celebrating with you!