January 1, 2012!  In reality, just another day.  But culturally, the start of a brand new year…and a whole new beginning.

At the end of the year, we are given the opportunity to reflect on our lives the past 365 days, to look forward to the next 365 days of our life, and to reflect on where we are.  It’s very healthy to take some time to consider our lives and how we’re doing.  Many “success gurus” suggest that we take some real quiet time to do some thinking at this moment in time.  

Each year at this time I sit down with my calendar from the previous year and slowly walk through the year day by day.  I remember all the appointments, dinners, movies, trips, challenges, events, and disappointments.  It’s good to look at it all, reflect, and consider.

With the challenges, I am most interested in how I reacted to these moments.  What came from these issues, and how did my life change or improve in response?  It has been said that the importance of negative events in our lives is how we react to them.

I also take time to look over last year’s list of “goals for the year.”  I’m not a fan of resolutions, as they tend to carry the baggage of something that is broken often.  Instead, I access my personal and business goals and write them down.  It’s interesting to see where my focus was 1 year ago, and then to decide what it will be for the coming year.  There is great power in writing them down, and I suggest you take time to do this also.

Realistically, we are given the opportunity to “start fresh” every single day.  Each morning when we wake up, we are given the chance to live our lives differently, with a different focus or context.  But this can be hard to remember in the busy day-to-day struggles we encounter.  So take a moment on January 1 to give this special attention, look back, look forward, and write a few things down.  

I wish everyone a Happy New Year, with countless opportunities to grow, expand our good, and make our lives exactly what we want them to be.  Get excited about the possibilities, and then make them happen!