Be thankful for what you have;
you’ll end up having more.
If you concentrate on what you don’t have,
you will never, ever have enough.
– Oprah Winfrey
We did it again! We are in the home stretch of 2021 and looking back, I am incredibly grateful for everything I have:
- a nice home and wonderful, healthy family
- a great job that pays the bills and makes me look forward to getting out of bed every day
- plenty of good food, clean air and water
- a fully functioning body and mind (okay, that last one might be debatable, but just go with it for now)
- and so much more.
On the morning of the 31st I plan to take some time to reflect on the entire year and make a special “gratitude journal” entry for 2021. It’s so easy to get lost in the frustrations, losses, disappointments and everyday annoyances, but this practice helps keep things in perspective, and that changes everything.
Sometimes, however, that’s easier said than done.
Maybe you feel like there are a lot of unfinished things on your “to-do list.”
Maybe you suffered the loss of a job or a loved one that has cast a shadow over a big chunk of the year.
Or maybe you’re just exhausted at the end of yet another pandemic-driven year (is there anyone this does not apply to?)
The good news is that it’s not too late to end the year on a WIN!
As my little gift to you, I’m giving you a menu of NINE different ways to do something good for yourself and/or for others. Each of them can be done in minutes or hours, so even if you only pick one from the list, you’re virtually guaranteed to end the year with something that makes you smile inwardly and outwardly, and say to yourself, “I’m so glad I did that!”
You may recall that each week on the Speaking to Influence podcast, our guests participate in the “24-Hour Influence Challenge” – inviting you to take and complete just one step in 24 hours to have more influence. These are the good kind of challenges, the transformative ones. And this year, 38 guests provided 38 unique, creative, and inspiring opportunities to do just that.
That’s why this week’s Speaking to Influence episode is the “Best of the 24 Hour Influence Challenge from 2021. ” I’ve compiled a “listening smorgasbord” of nine guests’ challenges over the course of the last year, each of which falls into one (or more) of three categories:
- Personal vision and clarity;
- Skill Development; and
- Leading (and giving to) others
And yes – all of those categories help to increase your powers of influence!
Listen to the full podcast here or watch it here.
Whether you use a vision board, a to-do list, a flip chart, a SMART plan, or anything else to plan ahead for the upcoming year, let me know which of these other nine challenges you accepted as a way to close out the current year with a smile and a WIN.
I can’t wait to hear about your success, and how they change YOUR outlook for 2022.
