Reach Your Peak in 2024

Even though I hate this time of year, it does offer one good thing - reflection.

There’s a natural feeling and nudge to reflect as something comes to a close. As another year does just that, it’s a good opportunity to take advantage and look back on what are some of the best things that have happened this year.

Notice the words ‘best things’ as these will help you remember the good of the past. If you just reflect on what happened, you’ll remember the stuff you had to work on, which is usually the negative stuff. [50] The world gives you plenty of opportunity to remember the bad stuff, do yourself a favor and add the words ‘best things’.

With that, I’ll start and maybe help give you a boost and some ideas.

Do What You Want

I like to build, get my hands dirty, and physically move around as I create. In past years, I wasn’t so great at setting this time aside, but this year I did. This past year, I pulled out all my old LEGO bricks and got to building. I still had a lot of the instruction booklets, so I started there. As the weather warmed up, I headed out to my shed to build Halloween decorations. My front yard looked like a haunted pumpkin patch this year.

Always Be Learning

Three books that stood out from my reading list this year were:

- No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy. I have found that a lot of folks get very uncomfortable around emotions and emotional people, particularly at work. This was a light-hearted, easy-reader that gave perspective on that topic. Emotions are OK, natural, so boost your confidence.

- Think Again by Adam Grant. I’ve referenced the main point of this book at least once a week, at least it felt that frequent. Keep an open mind, be patient, be flexible.

- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. I found this book to be boring. Why? Because it was repetitive. So why am I suggesting it to you? Because it’s repetitive. For those who want to be better leaders, whether you’re starting at ground zero or need that push to grow from where you are, the repetition in this book is that shove. Page after page are little reminders of what it means to lead and small steps to get there. Learn from my mistake and don’t read it all in one go. Space it out. A few pages one day, a few more another.

Get Rid of Stuff

I cleaned out a lot of stuff this year, and boy, does that feel great. Disclaimer: I love to organize, it energizes me. Files, clothes, unused things, etc… Even reflecting on it again as I type - what a relief.

I work with people on organizing, so I know this isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do. Start small. What’s that one article of clothing you haven’t worn in over a year? What’s that one broken thing still sitting on a shelf?

Donate, recycle, or sell. There are far more options then just the trash. Who else could get use out of something you are not using? Freeing up space and the pressures those things exert allows for new things to enter, like the stuff you get to add from the Do What You Want section above. (How else was I going to store all the new Halloween stuff?)

Looking Forward

I’m using some of the previous topics to focus myself in 2024. I’m looking forward to spending more time and energy on my YouTube channel. I feel the topics I cover and the areas I want to support you all in are better suited for longer form and visual delivery.

So in the nature of getting rid of stuff, I’ll be spending less time in all the other social media platforms, so I can spend more time over on YouTube. And piggybacking off doing what I want, creating videos is much more energizing to me then just writing text. It allows me to be creative and build with imagery and sound.

And What About You?

Enough about me, I wanted to offer up examples and encouragement. How are you going to journey through the next 12 months? It can be overwhelming and easy to get caught up in the tsunami of huge goals or life changing resolutions everyone else will throw at you. I’m telling you that it’s OK to go small. Little things add up. Stay consistent.

Plus you don’t have to go it alone. Reach out to an old friend or find a new mentor. I’m always here for you as well. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my YouTube channel and you can tag along with me on my odyssey: https://www.youtube.com/@dougbarna.  And, if you need a place to start yours, check out the Action Path video here: https://youtu.be/XSUT7tKqq6Y

Put a reminder on your calendar, right now, for this date in 2024. Set aside 30 minutes for your future reflections.