End of Year Reflections

In December it feels natural to spend time reflecting on the year to gain a sense of closure and gather up the key learnings. In the Lightyear Leadership work that I’m trained in, we call this ‘Appreciation and Learning.’ It’s the final cycle in the Cycles of Success and gives us wisdom and positive energy to fuel the next chapter, project, or in this case, year.

While there isn’t one exact way to do this, some people find it helpful to go back through the months and record the key events from each: trips, projects, events, etc. This can help us appreciate all that we did and accomplished.

I also like to generally reflect on the year with these questions:

• What were my biggest learnings this year?

• What challenged me?

• How did I grow?

• What was the best parts of this year?

For me, 2023 was so much about Trust. In fact, that became my one-word intention for the year as I navigated IVF with my husband and was blessed to become pregnant for the first time. I practiced over and over again letting go of fear and control and leaning into trust more deeply.

Some other key learnings were:

• The Upper Limit Problem from the book, The Big Leap. Game-changer for deepening awareness around emotions.

• Taking a month (or six!) off social media is good for my soul.

• Pregnancy, feeling more grounded and appreciating my body frequently.

• The importance of sharing good news, celebrations and creating upward spirals of energy.

• Setting internal success markers around my goals vs. being driven by external goals or numbers. So much lighter and motivating!

• Savor more: good smells, tasty food, beautiful sights, hugs, kisses.

Your turn! Go for a walk. Bust out your journal. Reflect on your year. What did you learn? How did you grow? What made this year meaningful to you? It may surprise you how good it feels to take some notes!

Leverage Your Strengths in Goal-Setting

If you are working on a goal, you want to begin to generate emotions of feeling confident and equipped. A great formula to support you is leveraging your internal strengths with external resources (such as a coach, setting up your environment, rewards, etc).

We all have strengths. Strengths are capacities that a person is instinctively good at and that energize them when practiced. They benefit us and others. In coaching, we leverage our strengths to overcome obstacles, increase positive emotions, confidence, and momentum around a goal.

It’s very helpful to have a coach or friend call out our strengths, however, we can also identify them on our own. One way to do this is by asking yourself:

“What am I currently doing to support my health and wellness?” 

“When was a time in my life where I was at my best with [exercise, organizing, relationships, etc.]?”

Now think about what you consider your top 2 strengths. These are things that come naturally to you and energize you. If you’ve never done this before here are a list of examples:

• Empathy

• Organization

• Follow through

• Humor

• Focus

• Consistency / Routine

• Vision

• Clear Communication

• Grit / Perseverance

• Creativity

• Courage

• Appreciation / Gratitude

• Curiosity

• Honesty

Write down your top 2-3 strengths. Now think of the specific goal you’d like to achieve. Examples:

• Declutter my house

• Launch my website

• Lose 15 pounds

• Run a half marathon

• Save and travel to Bali

How can your strength of ________ help you achieve your goal of ________________?

I’ll give you a personal example:

I have a goal to lead a yoga retreat at a beautiful all-inclusive mountain location in 2025 with my husband. I believe I have strengths around vision, creativity and courage. Way’s I can leverage my strengths to help me achieve my goal:

• Write a detailed vision statement specifically around this goal as if it’s already happened by Jan 31.

• Creatively design a 4-day itinerary that feels energizing and exciting by Jan 31.

• Travel to 3 different retreat venues with a list of questions to ask the property managers by June 15.

Because I’m crafting these mini-goals from a place of my strengths, I feel more connected to them and confident that I can achieve them. By following through on these steps, I’ll begin to generate more momentum and forward progress toward my goal!

Now it’s your turn! Identify your strengths, clarify your goal and brainstorm three different ways you can use your strengths to set action steps for yourself. Your goals matter! They are the vehicle to growing and gaining greater wisdom. Let me know if I can support you through 1:1 coaching!

10 Tips for Going Plant-Based*

My husband and I have been eating a primary plant-based for the past 7 years. My philosophy with just about everything is balance and when it comes to food, I focus on listening to my body. While I may eat turkey on Thanksgiving, drink bone broth for healing or have some steak when I’m back home and my Dad is grilling, we find that sticking to mainly non-animal foods works for our active lifestyle.

If you’re making the transition, you can do it if you’re willing to adopt flexibility, grace and recommitment. For me, it’s never been a black and white, fully in or fully out journey and I offer that to you, especially in the beginning of your plant-based journey.

Here are my 10 nuggets of wisdom:

1. Know why you’re going plant-based. Get clear on your why(s) so that it’s fully your decision.

2. Don’t be rigid. Balance and flexibility friends.

3. Only buy good fuel. You will not eat what you don’t buy.

4. Find a plant-based cookbook and memorize some recipes.

5. Learn how to make a great peanut sauce! (It goes with so much!)

6. Always have rice, quinoa, beans and potatoes.

7. Utilize a crock pot or insta pot. I do almost daily.

8. Master the veggie taco or burrito.

9. Cook at home! It saves money to buy lots of avocados!

* We currently eat eggs and fish on the regular too