Are you excited?

The end of the year is always an excellent time for reflection.

There is something powerful about the calendar flipping to a new year and the feeling of a “fresh start”. But before we set our goals and New Year’s resolutions, we should first reflect on the year that has passed.

When I do my own yearly reflection, I go through the following before preparing for the next year.

1. Gratitude. What do I currently have that I am thankful for?

2. Goals. What did I set out to do this year?

3. Successes. What did I accomplish?

4. Misses. Where did I fall short?

5. Pushes. What do I need to continue working on?

With the excitement of thinking about the things we want to accomplish next year, the places where we fell short in the preceding one, and putting the game plan together to hopefully feel more accomplished when we go through this practice next year, we can easily forget about gratefulness and gratitude. So let's spend some time on gratitude.

Gratitude is the quality of being thankful. It’s a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

A lot of people fall into the trap of wanting more, even when they already have enough. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should be so content that we have no drive, work ethic, or push to move things forward. However, if we spend all of our time focusing on the things we don’t have, we’ll never appreciate the things we do.

Going into next year, ensure you set yourself up for success by recapping 2022 and identifying your 2023 goals, but don’t forget to think about the things you are grateful for.

Ungratefulness is thinking about what you don’t have or have not accomplished. Gratefulness is wanting what you already have.