We’re approaching the end of 2022. Are you ready for 2023? Is the world ready for you?
For me, I view these yearly markers as ways to celebrate different aspects of life – whether it’s seasons, holidays, birthdays, or other personally meaningful events. We can become so stuck both in the mindless monotony of our day-to-day schedules and our usual behavioral patterns. The year end presents an opportunity to mark an occasion, and it’s also an opportunity to use a ritual of celebration and gratitude to close out the year.
I use a leadership framework for this process and the year end is a nice reflection on the completion and celebration of how far I’ve come. My 2022 theme has been “Intentional”. This word reflects the path I chose to walk in 2022 – to be intentional about everything in my life – the way I think, the way I feel, and the way I act. As I walk the many paths of my life, I intentionally choose health, happiness, possibility, connection, growth, fulfillment, abundance, creativity, spirituality, celebration and love.
While this year has allowed me to continue to build a sustainable business, far too often I’ve been too serious and too driven about hitting our growth and financial goals. As I move into this next year, I want more magic, more joy, more ease, and a greater sense of flow in my life.
“Simplify” captures that spirit and intention for me, so as I move into 2023 my personal intention is to ‘Simplify’.
Setting an intention makes it more likely that you’ll move in that direction for the year. I’m happy to share that while it’s quite imperfect, and there are some days that are still packed, both my business and my personal life feel much more spacious with this intention to Simplify.
For 2023, I’ve also chosen to create a ‘Quest’ for myself, so I am extending my intention into my Quest to “Simplify my life so that I live my richest and fullest life every single day.”
As I go through my year end closing process, I consider projects, people, and community. I think back on all the things I’ve done this year – both professionally and also at home.
• What am I most proud of?
• What did I do for myself, and not simply to please someone else?
• What gave me the most energy and satisfaction?
• What would I do differently?
I’ll think about both the wins and the misses; the incomplete, lost, discarded dreams that never happened. We always have both. When I look at both, is there anything I want to do differently in 2023? Anything I’d like to remember to change up? I’ll reflect on and consider what it means, and how I will choose, to Simplify my life in the way I think, the way I feel, and the way I act.
What about you? I invite you to create your own year end ritual by taking the time to introspect and reflect. Elevate the ritual by sharing your process of these thoughts with someone else. You could also write it down on paper and do a ceremonial ripping and burning of the paper. Both the acts of sharing or the physicality of ripping and the changing state of the burn are small rituals that mark something important.