Your 2021 Highlight Reel
As we make our way to a new year, I have an idea that can help you both reflect on 2021 and prepare for 2022.
It involves the photos on your phone and a quick trip down memory lane.
Here’s how it works:
1. Scroll through the photos from January 1, 2021 to today.
2. Select ten of them under this specific category: What did I do in 2021 that I want to experience more of in 2022?
3. Create a 2022 Album to review throughout next year entitled, “My Best.”
Now, let me explain why this is important.
This list is different than categorizing them under your “Top Ten Favorite Memories of 2021”, though now that I think about it, that’s not a bad idea either! The difference here is to create more moments where “you are at your best giving your best to your best.”
At a planning meeting I had with my friend Daniel Harkavy last month, he encouraged me to “give my best to my best.” Sometimes, the best, most important people in our lives can get our left-overs. They deserve our best energy, best effort and best attention. This doesn’t mean we neglect our responsibilities. It means we get ahead of life, that we plan more intentionally and create more of what we liked in this year for next.
Let me give you an example. This photo is in “My Best” album for next year.
It was taken in Homewood, Alabama, near where our kids live. When Wendy and I go visit Jesse and Cole, we spend a lot of time on this street. The photo doesn’t do it justice but it’s one of my favorite places. It has Battle Republic, where Jesse and I work out. It has one of my favorite clothing stores, Shaia’s, a great, independent bookstore, Lil’ Professors, the best cookie shop in Birmingham, Cookie Fix, Big Bad Breakfast, Caveat Coffee Shop, Hero Doughnuts — okay maybe we visit way too many eating establishments on this street.
My point is I want to spend more time here in 2022, which will mean more time with Jesse, Cole and Wendy. If I’m not careful, I can fill up all my time with speaking engagements and business opportunities. And while I enjoy all of that, I don’t want to work my life away. In 2022, I want to spend more time on my favorite street in Homewood.
Another example might be a photo of a work-out you did. You could put that in the “My Best” album reminding you to focus more on your health in 2022.
You see, this year provided clues for both of us that we have within us the potential of an even greater year. Find those photos. Capture them in an album, and up the frequency of what you experienced this year. Perhaps you don’t need new resolutions or new ideas for the New Year. Perhaps you just need more of what you already experienced this year.
FOR You,
Jeff