Focus on the Positive

A friend recently pointed out that she tends to listen to her inner critic and focus on all the things she didn't accomplish, all the ways she failed (even if it wasn't an actual failure). But when she sat down at the beginning of the year to review her goals from last year, she decided to focus on the positive instead, rather than honing in on the goals she didn't meet. And lo and behold...her list of "wow" moments from 2024 grew before her eyes. 

Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash

I thought this was a brilliant observation. How often do you look at the negative, focusing on all the things that didn't work or that you didn't try or didn't do? And on the flip side, how often do you celebrate the "little" wins and appreciate the steps you took to do something different? With this in mind, I'd like to publicly put out there my list of "wows" for 2024, and encourage you to take some time to process your own "wow" moments from the last year. If my guess is correct, you probably have more of them then you might think...

• I only walked one day the week of New Years. Since June, I walked an average of 5 days a week for 6 months straight, after being a couch potato, basically since 2020!
• I only lost 7 lbs. this year, and now I'm stuck. I started intermittent fasting in April and am still doing it and feel better overall than I have in a few years!
• I only read one book in December. I set a goal to read 48 books this year, which I completed in August and went on to read 62 books for the year!
• I didn't save for a vacation like I planned. We took the kids on multiple "adventure days" and splurged on local events and meals that made for great memories!
• I didn't have time to invest in local friendships. I was surprised by a couple of friendships that developed over text and have become lifelines on hard days!
• My husband had to close his business. We took a leap into a new venture and so far it's paying the bills and God has provided even more than we expected!
• I didn't get as many outside work gigs as I hoped. I heard from an old client who responded to an email I'd sent months earlier, which provided income right when we needed it!

Do you see the difference? One viewpoint only looks at things through the lens of failure. The things I wanted to accomplish but didn't. The other focuses on all the good things that did happen! I'll be honest, as an INTJ, I'm not great at looking at the positive (realism is built into my DNA!). But this was such a good exercise in recognizing, not only how many good things happened over the last year, but all the ways I changed in my mindset and outlook along the way.

What are your "wow" moments?