By Jeff Whitaker
A new year, a new decade! If you’re like me, you’ve thought a lot about how you plan to tackle the year ahead. Not only that, turning the page to 2020 makes you look at where the next decade will take you as well. Preparation, planning and anticipation for the future is great. But reflection and analysis are as well. As I look at the year ahead, I can’t help but look back at 2019. We’ve all heard that experience is the best teacher. But as my mentor John Maxwell says, “Experience is not the best teacher. EVALUATED experience is the best teacher.” He goes on to say that if experience is the best teacher, everyone who has ever experienced anything would be better off the next time around. But we all know that’s not the case. From time to time, we repeat the past in certain areas of our life.
So my suggestion as you head into this year (if you haven’t done so already) is to set some time aside to do reflecting and evaluating on your past year. It might also be a good idea to take a broader look back on the last decade as well. Write down the high points and the low points. What went right. What went wrong. Reflect on times when you made decisions that moved your life forward and times when decisions moved you in the opposite direction.
Once you’ve reflected and evaluated on your past, take the information and use that to help in planning the year ahead. Here are three questions you can ask yourself as you plan.
What is your preferred future?
What have you learned that you need to continue pursuing?
What do you need to cut back on or avoid in the future?
Part of this process for me is also asking myself who I need to spend more time with and who I need to distance myself from. The reason for this is the simple fact that we tend to become who we associate with. There is truth in the Biblical statement that iron sharpens iron.
What do you need to read more of, skills you need to build on, relationships you need to pursue. Asking all of these questions and taking the time to really think through your answers will help you make more engaging, meaningful, and realistic goals to pursue as you take on 2020. But unless you do the work, you can’t expect the desired results. Now go for it!
Jeff Whitaker is a lifelong communicator and storyteller. He is a certified trainer, coach and speaker with The John Maxwell Team. Jeff’s goal is to encourage excellence in individuals and corporations through leadership and communications training. Connect with him at jeffwhitaker.com, through The Jeff Whitaker Company on Facebook or @jeffwhitaker on Twitter.
