Dear Readers,
What’s your Dec. 31, 2018 story? Every year, I tell my story before it happens. I have it flash on my phone as a daily reminder. I see it every day. Here’s the daily reminder that flashed this year in 2017 (I edited out a few details because it was too personal). Here it goes:
“2017 HAS ROCKED! THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST REWARDING YEAR EVER! Professionally, I helped millions of people. Socially, my relationship with my wife and children are stronger and better because of dedicated time and common goals. Personally, I worked out four times each week, logged my calories, and maintained a healthy weight. Emotionally, I have enlisted the advice of a therapist and have an online group that helps me maintain my new lifestyle. I’m so grateful to make these changes.”
This past December has been a busy month for me. I had to start logging my calories again. And yes, I made an appointment with a therapist. Seeing a therapist gives me the chance to reflect, understand what motivates my behavior and emotionally vomit without having to worry about cleaning up the mess. As for maintaining a healthy weight and all the professional goals, I’m still working on those things. I’m doing the work to change my habits so that make my world reflects what I imagine it to be. I’ve recognized that sometimes the physical world takes time to catch up to the world I imagine. A year is just a marker in time; change is constant.
This has been the most rewarding year ever. It’s scary and uncomfortable for me to share this with you. I prefer the focus to be on you – it’s safer. But safe is boring. We have so little time on this planet. We blink and our children become parents, people we love pass away, and dreams are things we only have at night with our eyes closed. I choose to live in the present. You might think that this doesn’t align with telling my story as if it has already happened, but it is possible. Living in the present means being self-aware. Self-awareness is looking in the mirror in a metaphorical “thong” and looking at yourself. A thong exposes all your fears and insecurities. Living in the present means acknowledging the things hanging out of your thong. It means changing what you don’t love and working to tolerate the things you can’t change. It’s identifying people and places where you can find help, support and answers. It’s being grateful for what you have and taking action to create the reality you know exists. Some of you are too scared to tell your stories as if they’ve already happened. You’re afraid your story will not come true, and then, you’ll be disappointed. But to give up hope and stop dreaming is the surest way to guarantee disappointment. Personally, I’d rather dream it, believe it and work to make it happen. I trust the universe. There is so much good in the world — more than enough for everyone to experience.
Anything is possible this year. It’s possible for you and me.
What do you want this year? Instead of making a resolution, tell your story as if it’s already happened. One or two things will happen. Your story will come true, or it won’t. If it doesn’t all come true, ask yourself why. You might need to give it more time, do more work or change your approach. In time, you will get there. How do I know? That’s the power of storytelling. Happy New Year!