New Year, New You

Robin Roberts interviewed life coach Cheryl Richardson yesterday on Good Morning America.

Here are her suggestions for taking inventory of last year in order to make changes for this coming year.

1) Acknowledge Accomplishments
2) Which goals fell short?
3) Identify Lessons learned.
4) Make new goals.

It's good to look back and celebrate your accomplishments as well as identify the things you want to change.

Go through old photographs...memory tools...look at the key events of the year, vacations you took, promotions, new jobs, etc. Check your PDA or calendars to look at what you've done. Check your journal, too. Use these memory tools to get better acquainted with the last year of your life. Then start a year-end personal inventory notebook.

What were your headlines for 2006? What was the good news? What were the inspiring stories. The things you did that you feel good about? What were the life-changing decisions? What was the bad news? The places where you disappointed yourself? Where you weren't able to accomplish what you wanted to? Who was your person of the year? Or your moment of the year?

Once you gather this information, you start to get a sense of what you need to do for the next year. We learn from both the good and the bad. The biggest thing we learn from the good is to really stop, take a breath, take in the results of how we're living our lives. The good certainly teaches us something about qualities we've developed that will help us achieve more goals, and gives us a chance to pat ourselves on the back. What doesn't work is even more valuable because it shows us the lessons we've learned.

Once you do the personal inventory, there are two things you can do. I'm a big fan of making it simple and powerful. Once you've gathered the news together, you've got to use it. Look at it and see what success you accomplished this year that you can build on next year. Use that momentum and success and good feeling to build on for the coming year.

Then look at what's one mistake you made that you want to avoid next year. And make it a big one. The one common denominator everyone needs to make this happen is help. with a little help, you have a better chance of avoiding a big mistake.

Robin: "You've got to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel."


Photos: New slippers that were a gift from my cousin today =)
Third blossom on the Amaryllis Kaitie and Christopher gave me.