DECEMBER 29, 2021
In just two days, we’ll enter 2022.
What will you do? Will you watch another year go away or make it better? Will you make New Year Resolutions that you forget about after three weeks? Or will you achieve them by year-end?
And most importantly, will you be back here at the end of 2022 reading a blog post like this, or will you be at a happier and more successful level in your life?
You might be thinking, “Prabhsimrat, what does all of this have to do with my New Year? What matters to me right now is enjoying 31st December and then starting the New Year along with its problems.”
You can do that. You can start in 2022 also. But that’s not the formula that will help you win.
These two days will go by, and 2022 will begin regardless of what you do. But if you use these two days the right way, you will be surprised by the kind of confidence, determination, and clarity you’ll enter 2022 with. And from the first second of 2022 to the last, you will live and create the life you truly enjoy and love.
Which racer do you think will win the race? The one who gets a 10-second headstart or the one who doesn’t? The one who gets that headstart, right?
These two days will be your headstart. And this blog post will guide you on getting that!
A few years ago, I would do something we are all guilty of never actually finishing: Making New Year Resolutions.
I would write down all I wanted to do for the next year. I would feel motivated while writing and thought, “YES! This is it! I am going to rock the world now this year!”
I would have a good time on New Year’s Eve, and then I would have those New Year Resolutions in mind and think, “Oh! Today’s just the first day! I’ll start tomorrow.” And then I would start taking action on some things and not all of them thinking, “Some of these are for the next few months and the next half of the year. I’ll deal with them then.”
And guess what? After the first week or two, I would not even look at that sheet. Sounds too familiar, right? Because most of us have done that!
If I had just kept moving on this way, I would never have progressed and grown from day one of the new year. And up until 2021, that was the case for me. I would start a new year, but I could never sustain my New Year Resolutions.
In 2022, everything’s changing because I’ve got my headstart. And now you will get yours too!
What is it that I did to get that headstart? Simple! I cut off the extra baggage that I was carrying along with me.
Trust me; it is as simple as it sounds!
A runner who is just wearing a cotton shirt and shorts will run much faster than a person wearing two layers of winter jackets and heavy pants. Even if the runner in extra clothes usually is faster, the excess baggage will weigh them down.
Every year, I would make those New Year resolutions, but I was also carrying the baggage of the past year along.
While I was making the goal of exercising and losing weight in the New Year, I was carrying the habits of eating unhealthy food to the new year. I made a goal of writing three books, but I was still carrying the baggage of my negative thoughts, imposter syndrome, and bad time management skills into the new year. I decided to read many books, but I carried my distractions to the new year.
By carrying such large baggage of negative and unwanted things that held me down, there was no way I was going to finish the next year’s race in time.
I’ve laid it all off this year, and I feel much lighter and more confident to step into 2022. How? Let’s dive into that!
If we aren’t aware that we’re carrying this baggage, we won’t get over it. The first step is to develop awareness. I was sick of setting New Year resolutions and not fulfilling them. I reflected, introspected, and I became aware of these extra layers through that.
Take out a piece of paper, and let’s begin with the reflection! Write down all the problems and challenges you faced in 2021 and what you have learned from each. It will take some time and a little discomfort because we aren’t always well-acquainted with understanding and reflecting on our tough times.
And at first, you might feel that you don’t have anything to learn. That’s what I felt when I recently learned about this process in a live class. But when I got down to doing this exercise, everything changed. It was as if some other force from within me had taken over my hands and was pulling out a stream of words with my challenges and lessons. I felt more peaceful and at rest with myself, and when I finished writing it all down, I felt lighter, calmer, and less pressured. I had laid a lot of negative baggage off because not only did I acknowledge and accept the challenges I had faced throughout this year, I also put closure to them by understanding what I learned from them.
Before the clock hits January 1st, 2022, put closure to your 2021 so that you depart peacefully from this year and move with confidence and clarity into the next. When a loved one passes away too early, we all have this nagging feeling in our hearts, which echoes deep within regretting all the moments we did not spend with that person. We did not arrive at closure or a peaceful point in that relationship. Some conflicts, some problems, something was still lying there, unresolved.
Don’t let that happen with your time too. Through this exercise, you’ll resolve the challenges that still affect you deeply and be at peace with them. Trust me, the relief you feel in that moment is like nothing else.
But, just putting a closure and writing down your lesson is not enough. What if this challenge comes back in 2022 10 times stronger? Then what will you do? If you lost a loved one this year and have now put closure to it, what will you do if, unfortunately, two or three of your loved ones pass away in the coming year? It sounds and feels very scary, but what guarantee do you have that this won’t happen? Nothing. So, you must be pre-prepared to deal with all your challenges over again, but ten times stronger in the coming year. And that happens when you take action on your lessons.
Just writing, “I should spend more time with my loved ones.” as a lesson will not solve your challenge. Going out and spending that time will make you feel at peace with everything that might happen tomorrow, next week, or even the next month.
For me, one challenge was effectively managing my time because I felt I had too many things to do. Now I would consider that in 2022, I might just have to get a hundred things done in a day. Will I just spend the whole day worrying about what to do and where to start from? No. I will list everything I have to do, prioritize it in terms of importance, and then just get started. That’s what I did today, too, as I write this blog post. I haven’t finished everything yet. But I am not very confused or worried about what I have to do.
Identify how you can put your learnings from each challenge into action so that you’re prepared to deal with them again in 2022, even at a higher level. When you identify that, you’ll become truly unstoppable because you’ll move on from all of your negative baggage, and even if it comes back to you, you’ll keep putting it behind you and moving on.
What could be a better headstart than that? Even before you start the year, you have complete clarity on dealing with many challenges and winning your race with success, happiness, and no regrets. With such intense preparation, you’ll not only achieve your New Year Resolutions for the first time, but you’ll also fly past them and grow tremendously!
Now, you have the option to choose whether or not you want this headstart. These two days will pass by, and in around 48 hours, 2022 will be here. You can hop onto the airplane by dropping off all the unnecessary stuff or keep dragging that across a deserted road. Choose now because that’s going to redefine your 2022!
Let’s rock together!
Partnering in your success, happiness, and growth,
Prabhsimrat