Congratulations - you have successfully navigated the first month of the year and the decade! Maybe this first month saw you staying on track with your goals for the month or the year. Maybe this month found you abandoning your goals because they seemed too big. Maybe you realized you really want to focus on something different than you thought. Or maybe life threw you a curve ball.

Shortly after I started my new business, I was talking with one of my friends and colleagues about my decision - my Why for making this change.  She said something that stuck with me, "You've always seemed like you had a pebble in your shoe."

My kids and I often listen to The Highway on Sirius XM, and there's a recent song out by Brett Young called "Chapters" which inspired this post. The refrain gets me every time...are we learning the lessons that each page brings?

This time of year can be amazing but it can also be difficult for many - the stress of finding the perfect gifts or not having the finances to give gifts, painful memories, or challenging family dynamics. But, even with the difficulties that holidays or milestones (end of a year and a decade) bring, it’s critical that we celebrate.

This holiday season, I've become fixated on the concept of joy and how I can have more of it in my life. It's probably obvious on why we want joy but you may not realize all of the health benefits it brings you.

When we order something and it’s going to take longer than what we want to wait, we start to question how much we really want it or whether that vendor is really the right one for us. This feeling is similar to when we want change in our lives or set a new goal…when it takes too long or feels hard, we start questioning whether it’s really worth it.

For anyone who has flown more than once or twice, it’s easy to tune out the flight attendant when he or she starts going through the safety guidance because we remember what they’re going to say. We hear the message “put your oxygen mask on first before helping others around you,” but I think we often don’t think much about it because we assume we will not be faced with the situation. And, thankfully, most of us probably have never been faced with the situation when the oxygen masks fall down, and we have to use them to breathe.

In today’s world of automation where resumes often get screened first by technology vs. a person, it’s important to ensure that you are using words that really tell your story….what makes you different as an employee. Yes, you should look at what the job requirements are and tailor your resume appropriately, but I think the more important work starts earlier. It’s about identifying what value you add to any organization you join…what makes you special.

What if there’s another variation that impacts most of us at some time or another? What if we all hit a “bottom” when we decide that where we are is no longer good enough? What if hitting this “bottom” is really about when our self-assessment says “I want more..fun, career growth, connection, etc.”? What if it’s when you say…Enough is enough and move from excuses, self-sabotage, and doubt to a place of power and change?

Don’t run from change just because it scares you. I like this quote because of its direct statement that we must actively choose the changes if we want to grow: "One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." - Abraham Maslow.