Written by: Ian Gibbs, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
If you’re anything like me, these next few weeks leading up to the New Year can be extremely stressful – planning, preparing, buying presents, your diary is packed with meetings and get-togethers. The focus is all about the future: a new year with new projects, new goals, and New Year’s resolutions. But the future also brings a combination of uncertainty and pressure, which in turn can lead to stress and anxiety.
So I’d like to suggest you do yourself a favour and find a quiet moment when instead of looking forwards to the new year, you do something equally important but often overlooked – to reflect on this past year. Not on the havoc and chaos you’ve seen in the news (or boardroom) – that’s just adding more stress. But on how the year has been for you. Especially the positive things.
As you probably know already, we tend to focus on the bad. If someone says you had a great year and achieved 99% of your goals, your focus will be on that 1% where you failed.
Now, I know we don’t know each other, but I bet there are many positive things you’ve done this year that you deserve to feel good about. But because they’re positive, you overlook them. Our failures always seem to dominate our successes – if 99% of our days go well and 1% are disastrous, we both know which ones will stand out in your mind.
So, I challenge you to pay some well-deserved attention to the positive, your victories in the pursuit of perfection. Here are 5 different ways to do it, pick the one that suits you the best, or if you have the time, why not try all of them?
1. Career milestones
Your year is full of things that you’ve done, clients you’ve satisfied, deals you’ve made, projects you’ve run. Some of these will be more significant than others, marking real progress in developing your career. They are career milestones. Think about them. Identify the things that have shaped your professional journey. This could include successfully completing a challenging assignment, receiving recognition for your work, or taking on new responsibilities. Reflecting on your milestones provides insight into your climb up the professional ladder.
Here are 10 concepts to get you thinking, but feel free to add your own:
A new position
A new sale
A new job
A new client
A new product
A new mentor
A new award or accreditation
A new partnership
A new innovation
Which ones are you most proud of? Which have had the biggest impact so far? This year, for the first time, I was invited to take part on a discussion panel on psychological safety. It was a fascinating experience.
2. Personal triumphs
Your growth doesn’t have to be career focussed. Consider the personal triumphs that have marked your year. Whether it's conquering a fear, achieving a personal goal, or navigating a challenging time with resilience, these victories also deserve acknowledgment. List these accomplishments, allowing yourself to celebrate the success that each deserves. Again, 10 categories to get you started:
Hobbies
Worthwhile causes
Travels
Creativity
Finance
Philanthropy
Wellbeing
Personal relationships
Community
Family & Romance
These personal accomplishments contribute to a richer, more fulfilling life. Which of these have you improved this year? Which ones could be better? This year, I decided to be more ‘go-with-the-flow’ at home with my family and so far it’s working out very well.
3. Skills development
Consider the skills you've acquired or refined over the past year. From technical competencies to soft skills, each development contributes to your professional toolkit. How have these skills enhanced your performance and created new opportunities? Whether it's mastering a new programming language or honing your leadership skills, recognise the value these skills bring to your role. Again, feel free to add to these ten suggestions:
Technology and A.I
Communication skills
Music and art
Sport’s abilities
Leadership
Emotional Intelligence and Empathy
Productivity and Time management
Sales and marketing
Critical Thinking and Problem-solving
Health and fitness skills
These skills not only contribute to your role but also shape your professional identity. How can you tell if your skills have improved? What can you do now that you couldn’t last year? This year I’ve developed skills using AI including Midjourney and ChatGPT (don’t worry, these words are all my own), my podcasting skills are getting better and I’ve been told my ability to talk to HR people ‘using language they can relate to’ has improved, too. So that’s great, isn’t it?
4. Enriching experiences
Beyond career and skills lie experiences that enrich the soul. Exploring new places, connecting with diverse people, delving into education, and embracing novel ideas – these broaden our horizons. Reflect on enriching experiences starting with these 5 broad concepts:
Varied locations and cultures
New connections and friendships
Educational pursuits
Inspirational media and conversations
Engaging activities and events
These experiences can be the basic building blocks of personal growth shaping your values and beliefs. Which ones have influenced you the most this year? I watched the documentary ‘A Plastic Ocean’ – it has profoundly changed the way I think about the way we use plastic.
5. Personal metrics
If you’re the sort of person who prefers numbers over experiences, how many different ways can you measure how things are going for you? The number of in-law visits without arguing? Your streak with sticking to your diet? Ten final examples to get you thinking:
Weight and BMI
Personal bests
Completed tasks or projects
Your streaks for meditating, workouts or language practice.
Journaling and writing
New contacts or clients
Revenue
Followers, likes or subscriptions
Financial milestones
Bucket items crossed off
These metrics are not just data points; they narrate a story of progress. While my bathroom-scale metrics are nothing to shout about, I was delighted to pass my 700-day streak of language learning last month. I’m looking forward to hitting four figures next year.
The future is an unknown territory and a frequent source of doubt and uncertainty. The past, however, can be a source of satisfying reassurance if you take the time to acknowledge your achievements and count your blessings. It's an important practice that cultivates a positive and growth-oriented mindset. By recognising your personal and professional triumphs, you set the stage for continued success in the coming year. Carry this sense of accomplishment forwards so you can feel better about yourself this Christmas and more optimistic for the coming year.
All the best for 2024 and keep learning!
Ian Gibbs, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ian Gibbs is a leading expert in learning techniques and personal development. Through his talks, books and workshops, Ian helps individuals and organisations develop better strategies for learning how to overcome obstacles and achieve goals they thought were beyond them. He is the founder of Learning Clubs which are rapidly gaining notoriety for being a powerful personal development accelerator. Ian's mission is to help people understand and apply everything that science knows about how we develop new behaviour and skills but which is sadly so often overlooked and so keep up in today's rapidly changing world.
