We’re now six months into 2023. How does this realization make you feel?
It’s common to feel anxious. Time flies by and yet we feel we achieve nothing. Rich Roll has said we overestimate what we can do in a year and completely underestimate what we can achieve in five years and he's right. That's why as we find ourselves mid-year, reflection is key.
We often start the year with goals and ambitions, we want to level up, make more, be more, see more, experience more. We focus on measuring our progress incrementally versus looking at the bigger picture of what led us to the point we're at now.
Often, we might have an idea of how we want to change or what we want to accomplish. And, we often know something needs to change but don't know where to start. When we’re on track to meet these milestones, we feel great, we're winning — but we also consciously and subconsciously begin to move the milestones out of reach on ourselves and feel not good enough.
Today, we encourage you to start the day with a reflection: What specific efforts and experiences have you been feeling proud of so far in 2023?
Feeling proud doesn’t necessarily mean reaching a goal— it doesn’t need to be losing X pounds, achieving a certain title, completing a novel, or changing who you are. It could be:
I invested in self-development and learned X which has helped me.
I didn't cancel on plans because I wanted to be present or I cancelled without guilt because I needed to for my energy and wellness.
I’m more confident in sharing my ideas because I know they have value.
I take personal days off work for rest because it's essential to my well-being.
I found better ways to use the time on my commute.
I’m drinking a little less soda and lots more water.
I’m walking as part of my social life and spending time outdoors with people (and pets) who matter to me.
I’m more conscious of my community and how I can be part of it when I feel lonely.
Six months in, you will know what is empowering you, and you will notice that these moments and experiences feel easy to recall. So if you’re struggling to establish what's empowered you so far in 2023 and where you'd like the next six months to be spent, start with what’s going well and explore a bit deeper on why it’s going well. See if you can build on it and make more time for it.
And if you feel that nothing has been going well, I invite you to challenge that assumption. We may not meet our expectations, or the result may not be exactly what we wished for, but we are always doing the best we can with what we have and know at the time.
The root of empowerment is accepting ourselves for who we are right now, accepting that we can keep iterating, designing and piloting our efforts each day.
And in that journey, there are always wins - big or small. We’re often too hard on ourselves, so at pg, we encourage you to take this six-month mark to identify what you have been doing well. Recognize it, celebrate it, and continue to build on it.
What are you proud of so far?
You got this.
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