How was your Year.??

Hi all,

It’s the end of one year, and almost the start of another. I don’t know why, maybe because I’m a bit of a control freak, (yes, I’m sure that is an elephant, but it’s only small, and hardly ever gets in the way…hehehehe!) – but I like to have ends and starts. I like deadlines, I like beginnings. I know that I can set goals anytime, but for some reason, I just like to do it for the start of the New Year.

And… here’s what I do.

First of all, I reflect on the year just gone.

Was it a happy year, overall?

Was it an exhausting year?

Did I achieve what I wanted to?

Did something ‘blindside’ me that I struggled with?

Did I discover new things?

Is there an Elephant that just WONT go away?

Armed with this information, I then decide on what I would like for my coming year. For example, on reflection of my last year, I would say that, overall, it was a ‘transition’ year. We sold our studio, and I stayed home with the kids fulltime, for the first time ever. So I went from working ridiculously long hours to virtually no hours. I feel that the universe forced me stop and recover, and to ‘still’ myself, to observe what it is that I want to do next. It really does feel “transitional”.

I also married my soulmate recently, and I have now changed my name from Roles to Gray. Seems small, but to me, your name is the ‘title to your ‘story’(life). It’s who you are. After my divorce, I decided to keep my married name of Roles, rather than go back to my maiden name. This is because right at that point in time, I was Cheryl Roles, and everything I had done in my life, including getting married and dealing with a relationship breakdown, and single motherhood, had made me who I was at that exact point in time, and my name, at that point, was Cheryl Roles. Changing back to my maiden name, sort of felt like a step backwards, and negated all the ups and downs I had endured to get to that point. Now, however, I have a new name – Cheryl Lisa Gray, and now, my story can change to suit my new ‘title’! Exciting! & another transition in my year.

Sorry, I have digressed. Back to my end of year ritual…… 🙂

Reflecting still on this past year, I ‘check-in’ with my “Year of” Theme, and did I stay true to this theme. It’s a nice way to acknowledge my overall achievements. My theme for this past year was “Year of Balance”. Looking back, I went from overworking to underworking!!! So the scales definitely tipped….. did they ‘balance’???? mmm.. I would say “Not yet”. …. BUT ….. it DID teach me what is needed to BE balanced – so it taught me ABOUT balance. I am now very certain that I love to work – LOVE it. However, I need to set clear, and strict boundaries, so that I don’t ‘overwork’. So, on reflection of the past “Year of Balance”… yes…. I learnt what I needed about balance. A Successful year 🙂

Now, over the next 4 weeks, I start to think about what “Year of” I would like for next year. I have heaps of ideas, but nothing I’m strongly drawn to yet.

Do I make New Years Resolutions? NO. I just have my overall “Year of”, and I encourage you to try it this year too (if you don’t already). I have had some pretty awesome “Year off’s” in the past!!!

Here are some I have had – they might give you some inspiration for your own!

Year of Foundations – This was my first year as a single mum. I wanted to spend the year, laying new ‘foundations’ for me to ‘grow’ on. I wanted to experience new things, and build new relationships and goals. I made a pact with myself to say YES to any new opportunities! What a year that was!

Year of Building – During this year, I took all my new experiences for the previous year, and started to build on them. My confidence level was still low, so I had to focus on making an effort to ‘build’ on all those foundations. A very empowering year!

Year of the Shoe – hahahahaha! Yes it is true! I had a year of the shoe!!! I never understood the obsession some women had with shoes! I hated them! I only had about 5 pairs! So, I made it my mission to understand how, or why, women have shoe fascinations! I can now, very proudly say that I have a shoe obsession!!! Successful year! (I’m not sure Matt thinks so! hahaha!)

Year of the Accessory– This year followed on well from my shoe year! I realised I had no ‘accessories’ to jazz up any outfit. This needed to be rectified ASAP. So during my accessory year, I made a commitment to purchase random accessories whenever the opportunity presented itself. Hahahaha! I now have an excellent, regularly used collection! Another successful year!

Year of Business – Learning all I could about Business. Reading books, attending seminars, mentors, etc… anything and everything business! A year of growth!

Year of the Body – Time to compete again in some bodybuilding shows, and learn even more about how my body responds to different foods, training, emotions etc! Fascinating!

Year of Money – I struggled with this one, and will visit it again. I wanted to learn to love money. Currently I am not a fan. Money causes so much grief in our life, I find it hard to ‘like’ it. And I really want to change that attitude….. I did however, realise this year, just how deep my feelings surrounding money goes, so it was still a purposeful year.

There have been others, like last years – Year of Balance, & Year of Family and Friends, and I hope that these give you some ideas for your own “Year of”.

Next…..On New Year’s Day, I like to create a “Star Chart” highlighting my “Year of”. I’ll show you how I do this after Xmas – its fun!

But for now, it’s time to reflect, acknowledge, & take responsibility for what 2013 was really like for you. Make sure to be honest with yourself, because this is how you grow. Also, start playing with some ideas of what you would like from 2014 and choose next years “Year of” and make it a successful year!!!!

Have fun with it!

Talk soon

Cherlisa xx