I am sitting in my office thinking about 2021 goals. I get excited just thinking about leaving 2020 behind. Although the beginning of 2021 will be more of the same, it feels exhilarating to be able to flip the calendar to a new year.
I answer the same questions when creating new goals year after year but this year the questions hit me differently because of this most unusual year! The reflection questions always are:
- What goals did you crush in 2020?
- What was your success formula in crushing them?
- What are the rewards you feel from crushing them?
The only one I was able to successfully answer those questions to was my self-care goal that included not over scheduling myself, being intentional about what I say “yes” to and giving myself Sunday’s as Traci Time. ACCOMPLISHED!
Had I known what the year would bring my goals would have been more like:
- Get out of your sweatpants at least once a week
- Limit Netflix binging watching to one day a week (not 5!)
- Only open the refrigerator during times when I am truly hungry.
- Limit access to Tik Tok to 1 …. Ok maybe 2..hours per day.
So maybe 2020 wasn’t a great year for accomplishing goals but what it was good for was even better.
It was a year of emotional growth.
It was an opportunity to strengthen emotional mastery. Emotional mastery is when we control how we feel as opposed to events, people or our environment controlling it. My emotional mastery (during a normal year!) on a scale of 1-10 (10 being high) averages around an 8.
This year was more like
- Jan – Kobe Bryant = 8 (Super sad)
- Jan-Feb Corona begins = 8 (Uncertainty but not panicking)
- March – National shut down = 7 (Emotional mastery being tested. But still manageable)
- May – George Floyd (And others after him) = 6.5 (Anxiety and anger setting in – start meditating to help lessen anxiety)
- Riots / Protesting = 5 (Anger, frustration, confusion, uncertainty, basically all the feels) Focus Traci! What can you control? What do you need to let go of? What does this mean? What do you have gratitude for?
- Fires, Eddie Van Halen, politics… ugh.
What I wouldn’t do to have Prince Harry and Megan be the only real story of 2020.
This all leads to how my questions changed for myself when reflecting on the year. I pride myself on maintaining a positive mindset and life. And I have had enough education and training to know exactly what that takes. This year was my change to test all that I had learned. This is what I have been preparing for. If I hadn’t been strengthening my mindset over the years the way that I have I would have 2020 would have been the year I ended up in a place with padded walls.
All of this led to new reflection questions:
- What did 2020 teach me about myself?
- What did 2020 teach me about humanity (In a positive way)
- How did I grow emotionally in 2020?
- What happened in 2020 worth celebrating?
I grew more this year then I ever would have with the stereotypical goals I set in 2019. (Health, business, financial, blah blah blah)
Thank you 2020 for that gift! But, I am still really ready to leave you behind.
Bring on 2021!
Your Life Coach – Traci