Setting your sights on a fresh start for the next decade
This new year is no ordinary year! 2020 marks the end of a decade and the possibility of new beginnings in our life. Whether or not this past decade has a happy, sad or so-so ending, it’s a good time to pause, take our bearings, reset our compass, and plan for the next 10 precious years of our life. But you’ll need 20/20 vision to see the best way forward.
Completing the past decade
To achieve that kind of clarity, it’s a good idea to review the last decade and clear up any hangovers that may sneak in to sabotage our future plans. Yes, it’s time to complete that part of our life -- celebrate our wins and mourn our losses. Completion is a powerful way to acknowledge and accept the past - the good and the bad - and a necessary cleansing process if we want clear 20/20 vision for the next decade. What better time to reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve done (or not done), and what we’ve learned in the last ten years.
We cannot change what happened but we can forgive ourselves and others for the misdeeds of the past. No matter how ‘bad’ or painful they might have been, it’s important to learn from them so that we can leave the past in the past and grow forward with wisdom that only comes from deep life experience.
It takes courage
We’ve created a society that lives for comfort and luxury to avoid pain and discomfort, yet often that’s where our greatest lessons occur. Let’s not hide from painful moments; but take courage and look for the opportunity to learn from them. Have compassion for ourselves and for others, and trust that we have been given exactly what we need - not necessarily what we want!
We cannot recreate the past, no matter how brilliant that first experience was. Let’s celebrate those and other ecstatic moments, and place them in our portfolio of happy memories to be drawn on in darker times. Take those lessons and add them to our onward journey of personal growth and conscious awareness.
Looking back
Much like looking in a rear-view mirror, I can look back at the course of my last decade, and see that my journey has taken me past many milestones through a multi-coloured landscape of mishaps and misfortunes and of magical moments I will never forget.
When I turn the mirror to a certain angle, I can see the darker moments of those years, like closing my business, selling our family home, and losing my best friend to diabetes.
In each of those memories, I can dwell in regret and sadness, but truthfully, each experience has taught me so much about myself and brought me to where I am today. I would be less of a person had I not had those experiences, painful though they were.
We can choose
But when I adjust that mirror to a different angle, I can see the highlights of that same journey - like moving to a new house, becoming a certified coach, seeing my children graduate, and cozy Sunday family dinners.
It’s up to us to choose the angle of that rear-view mirror. Whether we mourn our losses or relive the happy moments, we can learn from our experiences, celebrate the brilliance of life, and express gratitude for the opportunities we’ve had to grow.
The Here and Now
Whichever way you look at it, we cannot design our future from our past; only from the present. It’s time to complete that part of our journey - the last decade - and acknowledge the road that brought us here, including the wrong turns and the right ones. Let’s take the time now to reflect and appreciate our life, our body, our family, our friends, and those others who helped us along the way.
Designing our future
Having adjusted our rear-view mirror and cleared the mist behind us, we can now look forward with 20/20 vision and set our compass for a new destination.
If this were an ordinary year, many of us would take this time to start planning, setting goals, and bolstering our self-discipline to carry out our new year’s resolutions. But even with the best intentions, these often fade and fizzle as life gets busy and our best laid plans get derailed by last year’s wrong turns.
Who do I want to be?
So, instead of coming up with just another new year’s resolution, let’s take the time to complete the past, reset our compass, adjust our mirror, and set a new course to fulfill our vision for the next ten years. And ask ourselves: “Who am I going to be?”, “What difference will I make?”, and “In 2030, will I look back knowing I lived my best life?”. I hope it’s full of scary moments, rich and deep adventures, loving connections and compassion for those less fortunate, so that we may become who we are truly meant to be in this next, most important decade of our life.
Wishing you all a very Happy New Decade!
Charlie
If you’d like help in completing the past decade, choosing a new destination, and setting a course to get there, I’d be happy to help. As a certified Integral and purpose coach, I can help you plan the way forward and step into a new way of being to fulfill your ten year vision.