It’s hard to believe that we’re already counting down the days until we leap into 2022. Having a countdown like this can be valuable but also depressing if you let it. So let’s dive in with a set of questions to guide your reflection.

Recently, I heard the phrase "Covid cloud" about how we've been making decisions in our personal and professional lives. Every choice is filtered with thoughts about Covid's implications for ourselves and others. If you spend just a few minutes thinking about it, you'll realize how many decisions have this filter in them.

Brave isn’t about one type of person. It’s a mindset, behaviors, and actions that we all have the ability to reach for when needed. Brave can come in all shapes and sizes.

How often have you heard yourself responding to the question “how are you?” with “I’m fine, just busy.” If you’re like me, this was my answer for such a high percentage of my professional career. My other regular response that got a bit closer to how I was feeling was, “I’m fine, just tired.”

I don’t think it’s ever too early to start thinking about what you want to be known for. We have the possibility to build several legacies – to our families, our communities, our workplaces (and most of us will have more than one), and it all begins with what people think about when our name is mentioned.

How important is clarity to you in your life? For me, it’s really important because I like to be able to see the answers. I’m ok not being able to see the whole picture, but I definitely prefer the other. 

Depending on where in the world you are located, you may be seeing the world start reopening – maybe in small ways, maybe in big ways. As we go through this transition, we’re all going to have different ways of experiencing it so it’s important to start thinking about stepping up to the new starting line. Yes, I know that life is not a race to the finish line, but it’s helpful to consider that we are stepping up to something new.

We all have a story that we're living. The question is whether we're living our story, the one we want to write for our lives or if we're reading the story someone else has written for us. It's so easy to fall into the trap of living the story someone is telling for you.

On the face of it, this deck looks like it's in great shape.  You put your deck furniture on it, you grill dinner for your friends and family, you throw a happy hour on the porch.  It looks solid.  It looks like it will support what it needs to.  It does it's job...until it can't anymore.  

I’m sure I could get a lot of responses on the things that you watched that you loved or hated (and please do share those comments so I can curate my to-watch list), but the reason for this blog is really more about the why we sit down and binge watch or engage in hours of video game play.