Recently I took a leap of faith and applied through a competitive process, to work on a project for a person I admire. I was really excited about this opportunity, but a week later I found out that I wasn’t selected. At first, I felt disappointed; I was really looking forward to the opportunity to learn from him and to this new experience. I allowed myself to feel sad and go through the negative thoughts that came up. Soon after I gave myself permission to feel that way, those feelings and thoughts went away. I also received some encouraging emails from supportive friends.
I realized I had to take action and start thinking of my next move. How can I make myself feel alive? My second book idea came up. I’ve been thinking about this idea for maybe a year, but I hadn’t acted on it. I hadn’t written the concept, or brainstormed it with anyone. So that morning, I grabbed my journal and started writing down the ideas I had, which have evolved a lot.
It may be the Light Ascension course I’m taking, it may have been the book I was reading by Carol S. Dweck: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
or it may just be the time to take action.
I suggest that you think back at anything this year that made you feel stuck, disappointed, upset, and work through those feelings. Once you are done with them, open yourself to new inspirations, so that new opportunities can come up.
If you need help getting back on track or planning a strategy for 2011, contact me to discuss if coaching would help you get there.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been a part of a woman’s group called “Creative Conversations”. Take a look at one of the group founders’ posts about one of our meetings here: Creative Times, A Blog for Artists and Entrepreneurs, by Eleanor Traubman. We meet regularly and discuss different topics and work on unique projects as a group. This December meeting is about reviewing our accomplishments in 2010. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, since I’m co-organizing it this time. I realized that it is important to consider all areas of life, because if you are disappointed that you haven’t accomplished something huge, you may be leaving out the smaller accomplishments you’ve achieved so far.
By the way, there are many ways to look at a situation: No, I haven’t become a best-seller author yet, but I’m still a published author, and I’m receiving very positive feedback from people who read “Ask Others, Trust Yourself”. Here are two comments I received this week: “Your book helped me understand what I need to do to be successful”; “I’ve been planning to start my business for a while, and your book made me realize that I’m ready, thank you”. I consider these comments a huge accomplishment by the way!
I suggest that you look back and consider your accomplishments (big or small) in terms of your family/friends/relationships, business/career, financial, spiritual and fun and write them down. My own accomplishments in these areas include making time to visit all my siblings (2 different countries outside the U.S.), keeping in touch with friends and family, connecting with my dad’s cousins whom we had never met until this year, meeting new people, signing up for online dating; growing my coaching practice, teaching Entrepreneurship courses; on my way to meeting my savings goals; continuing to take spiritual courses, practicing Reiki to help others heal; and taking care of my health. Well, haven’t created an exercising schedule yet, but hey this article is about accomplishments! 
Feel free to post your own accomplishments here, or share if you had any A-HA moments when thinking of your year 2010 so far.
