“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man” — Benjamin Franklin
There’s something powerful about standing at the beginning of a new year; like a painter with a fresh canvas, or in the landscape world, a brand new yard just waiting for the landscape to take shape! For me personally, with a growth mindset, a chance to start fresh is always exhilarating!
But consider this: In my earlier days of business and leadership, the first look at something new and fresh was somewhat intimidating to me. Where now, there’s nothing more exciting than a fresh start. Why was that? Fear of the future is a natural response for one who has no experience from the past!
Your confidence in growth comes from evaluating past experience. As we begin to paint on the fresh canvas of the year 2022, I want to encourage you: remember what’s behind you so you can prepare for what’s ahead of you.
I’ve never heard the phrase more than I have in the last 12 months “Hindsight is 20/20”… And there couldn’t be a more true and appropriate statement to consider as we begin this New Year. We can’t grow unless we are learning from our experiences, but the key thing to remember is to learn from the past without steadily trying to live in it. There is a reason the rearview mirror is much smaller than the windshield! Albert Einstein said “The future is an unknown, but a somewhat predictable unknown. To look to the future we must first look back upon the past. That is where the seeds of the future were planted.”
I want to encourage you this first week of the new year if you haven’t yet started, set aside some intentional time to look back on the last year or two.
To help you with this, take a moment to go over some reflection. When you are able to apply insights from your past to your current season, your future will be brighter.
As you begin to make resolutions, goals, and changes in this new year, I want to encourage you to let the insights from your past inform the goals for your future. This will give you a greater level of confidence, which will lead to greater success.
I believe we will be better tomorrow if we learn from yesterday. Here’s to making 2022 all of our best year yet!