Here we are at the beginning of another new year. Typically, if you are like me, you start January thinking that things will be different, creating resolutions with promises to do better and be better.

In some ways the beginning of a new year is exciting . . . like the first day of school. It’s a clean, fresh start, like a shiny, new notebook. Hopefully we have gained some experience. Perhaps we are wiser than we were this time last year and can bring more . . . but more of what? More experience? Adventure? Openness? Appreciation? Kindness? Willingness? Fear? Resignation? Fatigue? Burnout . . . or just more of the same? No matter what, it’s a choice! We get to choose what we bring into our new year: our mindset, our outlook, our focus, whether we realize it’s a choice or not.

As I work on my plan for a new year, the most important part for me is to reflect on what I learned in the previous year. I have had several years of “learning” experiences in my life, but we all know that 2020 was in a league of its own. My biggest learnings have been about beliefs, cultures, and perspectives that are different than what I have previously known or experienced. I continue to educate myself. The hardest part is the “now what.” Now that I have the beginnings of understanding different perspectives and wanting to know more, I am yearning to help. That’s the hard part, figuring out how to help to bring about change, to heal the heartache that is so real to so many.

I encourage you to ask yourself some hard questions that I am asking myself too . . . or just pick one:

• Re-evaluate a long-held belief
• Which value do you care about that you’re not currently living?
• What’s getting in the way of you being exactly who you want to be?
• In what area of your life are you playing too small and how can you expand your effort?
• Take ten minutes to identify what being a good person means to you

Sustainable change begins with reflection. I know we sometimes want to fast-forward through that process because it can be confronting and uncomfortable. Let’s push through that comfort zone and hold each other accountable. Please reach out and let me know what you’re working on and learning about yourself in the process.

Also, please join us online Thursday mornings for an inspiring discussion in The Leadership Lab community. Learn more: https://bit.ly/LeadershipLabKimEllet

by Kim Ellet, CPC, The Growth Coach of Metro Atlanta

Kim Ellet is a certified professional coach and owner of The Growth Coach of Metro Atlanta. She finds joy in helping successful leaders committed to continuous improvement, be more of who they are, dream bigger dreams, and accomplish more than they realized was possible.
www.TheGrowthCoach/Atlanta.com