470 - Three Powerful Q's to Set Yourself Up for a New Year

0:00Now, one of the things I like to do at this time of year is this easy little ritual that helps me clear the deck so I can start the new year with a bang. I can start it with a fresh slate, and I want to share it with you today because before all the holiday craziness sets in, you can give it a whirl along with me, and you can set yourself up for a powerful, productive, and amazing year ahead. Now, what I'm talking about is just three simple questions that'll help you digest what you did, leverage what you learned, and let go of all the crap that is holding you back. Now, I know some people have these very involved, kind of complex, long year-end review processes.

0:42I gotta tell you, mine is not that. It's simple, it's powerful, and it's fast. But if you wanna customize it, if you wanna zhuzh it up, if you wanna soup it up and add all kinds of layers of questions and charts and spreadsheets and sequence, go on with your bad self. Meanwhile, though, I would suggest grab a little piece of paper because I'm gonna dive in with question number one. Question number one is what did I do, create, or experience this year that I'm really, really proud of? You know, most of us move so fast and we have so much that we're working on that we rarely, if ever, take the time to digest and acknowledge our progress and really see how far we've come.

1:24I am so guilty of this. So what I want you to think about is what are some of the big things or even the little things that you made happen this year? What did you create? What did you experience? What did you do that you're really proud of? I want you to think about everything, but most importantly, write it down. Now, the reason that this is so important is most of us are extremely critical of ourselves and we feel like we never get enough done. We didn't accomplish enough. We didn't produce enough fast enough. And we wind up heading into the new year feeling deflated and defeated. Now, you might think, I got nothing, Marie.

2:03but I got to tell you, if you look through your calendar and you look through your phone, you are going to see all of the projects and the clients. You'll see the trips and the dinners. You'll see just how much progress you really made this year. Not only is this going to give you a sense of accomplishment and a real reason to celebrate, but this is also cool. It's going to give you specific things to talk about during all those holiday dinners and some holiday parties when people inevitably come up to you and say, so how was your year? Now you're going to have something good to say. Question number two, what mistakes did I make that taught me something?

2:37What lessons did I learn that I can leverage? This one is a really, really, really important one. In fact, it is so important that in our company, we actually go around and we talk about our mistakes and what we learn from them every single week. But the reason I especially like doing this at the end of the year is because in December, I'm often able to get that 30 ,000 foot view on my entire year and have an even deeper understanding of what went wrong. And I'm usually able to be a lot more objective. You know, when you make a mistake, if you're anything like me, and the mistake is recent and it's fresh, sometimes it's really hard to extract the lesson without beating yourself up.

3:21But usually with a little bit of distance and a little perspective in time, it is a lot easier to spot the lesson and the growth opportunity without our egos getting in the way. You know, hindsight isn't just 2020, it's often thick skinned. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to look back over your year and I want you to ask yourself, what are some of the things that just didn't go so well? Ask, you know, what mistakes did I make? What lesson can I learn and leverage from this? How can I do better next time? How can I use this to grow into a better and wiser person? So this is so, so valuable.

3:56And I feel like not enough of us take the time to do it. But I promise if you do this, you're going to go into next year like a champ. Okay, so this is it. Question number three, what am I willing to let go of? Oh my goodness, this is a big one. And I got to tell you, I am one of those people who loves to get rid of things. I love decluttering. I love tidying up. And yes, I do think it is a life-changing magic. Hello, Marie Kondo. I love you, girl. Anyway, you, my friend, it is time to let go of the crap that is holding you back. And it starts with a commitment colonic. Yes, I said commitment colonic.

4:40Ask yourself, what are the projects, the goals, or the things that have been hanging around your to-do list for years that you just never get around to? What can you get out of or release yourself from or just drop like a freaking hot pocket? Seriously, though, I want you to get rid of any project, any commitment, any goal that's just no longer aligned with who you are right now, who you want to be in the future or where you want to go. Now, once you do that, you have got to take it inside because for all of us, there is always more crap lingering around in there. So I want you to ask yourself this, what resentments, what angers, what hurts are you willing to let go of?

5:22What kind of guilt or shame or embarrassments have you been hanging onto? We all do. You know what this is? This is what I call an emotional enema. Yes, I did say emotional enema. This is how this crazy mind works. So I want you to keep going, right? I want you to ask yourself, what stories are you telling yourself that no longer serve you? Maybe it's a story that, I don't know, you're too old or getting too old or you're too young or that you never create things or produce things fast enough or that you're somehow not successful enough. Who might you be if you just completely let go of those disempowering stories?

6:02You know, I really like what the poet Rumi says on this subject. He says, be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop. Good stuff, right? Now, promise me that you're not just going to listen to this podcast episode and just walk away. Again, I want you to use these questions to get in deeper touch with the truth of your soul and set yourself up for a beautiful year ahead. So if you haven't already, I want you to go grab some gel pens and get started. Let's be honest. Even the most passionate, driven people get stuck sometimes. We all have those moments when we lose steam and nothing seems to get done.

6:40That's why I made One Minute Motivators. These quick little audio coaching sessions will help you get re-energized and back in the game super fast. Grab the full collection now at marieforleo.com slash motivators, or you can just scan the QR code on your screen.