MY TWO CENTS:
Happy New Year! Now that we have a month of 2020 under our belt, I hope you’re finding your rhythm of the New Year and are on track toward your highest priorities!
The beginning of a new season often brings with it new goals, new activities, or new areas of pursuit. Whether that new season is a season of the year or a season of life, embracing the newness allows us to be purposeful in maximizing our future outcomes and impacts.
As we celebrate the positive outcomes and impacts from the prior season (of the year, or of our lives), we allow ourselves to consider what we want to pursue next. Some people call that goal setting, but I like to call it dreaming. After you’ve given yourself the permission to dream a bit, the next step is to set the machine in motion to make those next positive outcomes and impacts a reality.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” I don’t really believe that’s the case. Instead, I subscribe to the idea that practice makes PERMANENT. So, if we’re trying to make our next season’s positive outcomes and impacts an ongoing reality rather than just a one-time thing, setting the machine in motion toward positive habits will be that first step.
A few questions to consider:
- What are the positive outcomes and impacts that you’re dreaming about for this next season of your life?
- What habit do you need to develop to make those outcomes and impacts an ongoing reality?
- What area of your life needs practice so as to create the desired habit?
- What are you willing to practice that will stretch you toward that habit?
In preparation for this edition of MTC, I heard the following quote from an unknown author: "It's easier to act your way into a new feeling than it is to feel your way into a new way of acting." My unexamined feelings and thoughts often keep me from considering and developing the new beneficial habits I desire.
Personally, I’m excited about pursuing the new habits that help achieve the outcomes and impacts about which I’m dreaming. As you continue on your journey this season, please feel free to share how you’ll be practicing and how we can encourage you toward your desired habits.
Make it a great week!
Scott Cousino, CFP®
President