First a quote: “Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Happy New Year!
I suspect many of you are back at work this first Monday of the new year after a few days of vacation, or if you were extra lucky, maybe even a week or two away. Hopefully, you are returning relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead in the coming new year.
Perhaps you are one of the millions returning to work today with a case of the “post-vacation blues.” Maybe you’re asking yourself, “What is there to be happy about, 2021 isn’t starting any better than 2020 ended?”
Based on conversations with others, and family update letters Becky and I received this past Christmas, I don’t know anyone who is disappointed 2020 has come to an end, or that 2021 has begun. 2020 was certainly a difficult year on so many levels, and in so many ways, but just as a sunrise promises a new day, January 1st brings the promise of a new year.
Think of the new year as an open book with 365 pages of blank paper ready to be filled with stories only you can write. 2020 is behind us, we should learn from it. 2021 is ahead of us, we should prepare for it. It is important to remember, today is a gift called “the present.” Embrace the day, live in the moment, make a difference. Be present!
While the following is certainly a cliché, it is also true that tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. Regardless of what has happened in the past, or your current position today, you can choose to begin anew in 2021.
As we all begin a new year together, I offer several suggestions and a short list of questions for your consideration:
- Intentionally choose what mental luggage you want to bring along into the new year! Sort out the baggage to be left behind. Let go of past wrongs, mistakes, and guilt.
- Make new habits, not resolutions. Focus on two or three habits to be changed, added, or removed.
– add one positive habit (maybe reading more often)
– eliminate one negative habit (maybe spend less time on social media) - Live life intentionally, not accidentally! Choose to be proactive more and reactive less.
And, a few questions for your contemplation as you begin 2021:
- What gave you the most satisfaction, joy or happiness in 2020?
- What are you most proud of?
- What were the most important lessons of 2020? Key lessons learned?
- Who is “the you” you most aspire to be in the future? Describe your “best self.” Be specific. (Never compare yourself to others, instead, compare yourself against the person you aspire to be, your “best self.”)
- What do you need to learn this coming year? What can you teach others?
- In what ways can you better serve others in 2021?
- In what ways can you make “your world” a better place? (“Your world” includes the things and the people around you; i.e., the people you love, live with, work with, serve and the strangers with whom you come across as you go about your day.)
- What barriers do you need to overcome?
- Who can help you? Who can you help?
- In what ways can you be a positive influence in the lives of others in the days ahead?
PS – Thanks to all who supported my Birthday BHAG of raising enough money to feed 65,000 hungry people as a way of celebrating my 65th birthday. My goal was the equivalent of 200 donations of $65 each.
As of New Year’s Day morning, we raised a tad over $5,000. While short of my BHAG, another generous donor made possible a “$1 for $1 dollar match” with the Idaho Foodbank. The IFB estimates they can feed five people per dollar of donation. Including that match, you made it possible to help feed more than 35,000 – 40,000 people in Idaho with money left over to support our team’s grass roots effort in Chicago.
It is not too late to help!! Click here to support: Food for the Hungry, Hope for the Challenged!
Thank you! You have made a positive difference in the lives of others during difficult year!
I had a great birthday! I am most grateful! Happy New Year!
Let’s not go back to normal, but forward to better in 2021! We can do it!
How will you live, love, or lead better this coming year?
Regards,
Bryan Yager
208.376.1701
“Expanding Your Capacity for Success”
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Bonus Quotes:
- “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” – Lao Tzu
- “Every ending is a beginning. We just don’t know it at the time.” – Mitch Albom
- “Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Night never had the last word. The dawn is always invincible.” – Hugh B. Brown
- “For each thorn, there’s a rosebud… For each twilight – a dawn… For each trial – the strength to carry on, For each storm cloud – a rainbow… For each shadow – the sun… For each parting – sweet memories when sorrow is done.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “The dawn is not distant, nor is the night starless; love is eternal.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
