2017 Personal Retrospective

Each holiday season in December, my husband and I take time to reflect on the previous year to appreciate and celebrate all the milestones, challenges, and achievements.

In 2017 my word for the year was "abundance" and boy did we have a lot of that in the last year. There was also a lot of newness in 2017, which meant lots of transition periods and adjusting to how we spent our time and having new responsibilities. It also made for an abundance of lessons learned and required times of reflection throughout.

Here are some of the major events and milestones I am celebrating and appreciating for 2017: 

• I set out the intention to get back into Learning and Development work and landed a new job 3 weeks in to the year.
• I got pregnant (after a lot of trying), grew a baby, and gave brith to a healthy baby boy - this alone brought so much generosity, support and love into our lives this year!
• I impacted over 100 women through fitness and goal-setting.
• I read more books than the last 4 years combined (thank you Novel Grapes)
• I bought my first new car.
• I travelled less and enjoyed my home more (nesting is for real).
• I collaborated with many of my incredible peers to create some impactful events (a speaker series, special classes and workshops).
• I donated money and time to more important causes and helped raise funds for several charities and other individuals.
• I was of service to my closest inner circle and my community in new and deeper ways through showing up in support and having soul-baring, truly meaningful conversations.

In taking time to look back, I am really proud of what I created this year. I can say with certainty that this year was filled with real growth through life experiences - not through formal learning which is my normal go-to strategy for having "tangible" growth.

Overall, I learned that the best life lessons don't come from a book, and it's more important to leap, take action, experience, keep moving and use the tools in your toolkit. Rather than reading more self development books, and surmising about the theories within them (although I love that too!), this year I really dove in and lived the work in a major way, which is perhaps what I am most proud of.

In 2017, what experiences shaped your life? What intentions did you set out with and honour? What felt really good? What are the moments of joy that stand out? What challenges did you overcome? What are you most proud of?

Take the time, write it down, tell someone. Feel the accomplishment of this year in your life. Acknowledge it as a stone on the path of your journey. Know that it is leading somewhere. Your legacy is happening right now, always.

Onward into 2018!

xo Syd