I always spend the last month of each year reflecting over the month prior, and thinking about what all has transpired. I try to grow from all the experiences over the year, both the highs and lows. I won't stop there. I try to focus on what I want to accomplish over the next year. This annual exercise has become a highlight of my year.
That wasn’t always true. When I was first encouraged by a mentor to do this annual exercise it could best be defined as horrifying. It started out years ago being challenging. It was not enjoyable to reflect on the year past or to challenge myself to think through the failures and mistakes that I had made. It was also daunting to think about the future.
It took great discipline to truly reflect on what’s in the past and focus on where I wanted to be in the future. I muddled through it for years, but I never really appreciated it until recently. I still remember in 2020 having a breakthrough moment. It was the year that I let go. I allowed myself to be honest with myself and through that experience I was in awe of what I learned and how I grew. I actually felt better. I forgave myself and others. I began to work toward healthier goals as a result.
I would like to share one profound thing that I reflected upon this past year, and have been challenged with from this recent experience. I started to realize from 2023 that maybe less might be more. It began with asking myself an important question. Am I doing too much?
I started asking this question half way through the year and even before my reflection time. I began to think maybe I needed to cut back. I did not fully realize the extent of this important question until my reflection time, though. I did decide to start cutting back, but because of some personal reasons at first. I then got to my annual time of reflection and BOOM it hit me. I started wondering again could less be more. I realized that I like to go nonstop and take on as much as possible. I started to wonder whether this was sustainable. Could I keep doing more?
For many people, and to be honest myself included, we can try to accomplish too many things. I can remember from a young age, feeling the desire to conquer the world. I had a chip on my shoulder and wanted to prove that I could take on every mountain or any challenge. I started to realize that I had not changed. I was older, but I will still doing more and more each year.
What 2023 taught me is that I don’t need to have more or do more. I started to realize that I could maybe excel by doing less. The more that I contemplated that, the more peace that I felt. I became fine with the idea of less.
What I’ve been challenged with when thinking about 2024 is how to take the concept of less, and excel at it. Is it possible to excel at less and be better? This is one of my goals in 2024. Can I excel by doing less.
I am even applying this concept to my business and investment strategies. I will be sharing more in the weeks and months to come. I am more convinced that less is more!