Goodbye 2018...Hello 2019!

"What interests me in life is curiosity, challenges, the good fight in its victories and defeats." - Paulo Coelho

Geez...so much had happened in the year 2018 and in just a few days the year that was will be over. We herald the coming of 2019 with a big bang! Today is a great day to sit back, take a break from what we are doing, pause for a while and reflect on the year 2018. It would be much better if you journalize it so you can read it later on and have a better look of what happened or didn't happened in your life this year. I have a to-do list which you can simply follow and serve as a guide on how you fared well this year.

Get a new notebook

It would be better if you can get a stenotype of a notebook, which you can easily flip the pages upwards.

List down your achievements for the year

You can break this down by making a list of simple achievements and a list of grand achievements. Why do you need to do that? Most people have the notion that success means having a new car, a new house or a promotion at work. They don't consider the small things like let's say learning a new hobby or skill as an achievement. If you don't consider the simplest things which you haven't done or received before as an achievement for you, you end up thinking nothing new or big has happened in my life.

List down the places you've been to for the year

You can list these down by categories. Create several columns and label it by country, local place and restaurant. Add to the list if you have other places in mind. Write down even the hole in the wall you've been too, it makes up for great eating adventures too. The late Anthony Bourdain has been known to travel to extraordinary places and hole in the wall around the world to sample a variety of local cuisines.

List down the events you have attended on for the year
The events include the socials or celebrations you've been invited to. No celebration is too modest to be considered trivial. No matter how humble a celebration or a social is, we take time to dress for it. So consider it worth listing down.

List down the new people you met this year

I hear from other people that they don't have plenty of friends or they know a few people. If you make a list of people you have newly met, (either at work or in your neighborhood), people you have talked with over the phone ( they might be suppliers or customers) or people you have connected with,  in your social media, you'd be surprised how many people you had known in the course of one year!

"Next time you have the opportunity to connect with people, do it. Share a moment together, offer a thought, lend them your ear." - Richard Branson

After writing down your list, you'll be amazed by how many pages you had to leaf over. Don't overthink or weigh too much if what you had in mind really counts. Just take it easy and jot down what comes first in your mind. This is not a test, where there is a right or wrong answer. This activity is to give you a fresh eye view of what transpired this whole year for you. This simple exercise is a tool to show you how productive you are for the 12 months of 2018. Congratulate yourself because you had come a long way, you were able to hurdle the challenges you met, triumphed over the hardships and obstacles and become a better person.

What happened in 2018 should not be left to levitate in space but these should serve as a guide on how we can conquer 2019. Indeed, we enjoyed a good fight in 2018, the fight to better our self, the fight to conquer our fears, the fight to come out of our comfort zone, the fight to reach for our dreams. We can not depend on others to make our dreams come true for that would be simply daydreaming. Dream and go work out there to make your dreams come true.

Happy New Year everybody and welcome 2019!

Image from Pexels

Middle Life is Beautiful.

Till next time. God bless.



*Video from Pexels