A Looking Back, Looking Forward Exercise

Friends,  at church today they encouraged us to look back before going forward (building memories) and it made me pull out this list and go through it. Our CEO, Roger Barnett,  had sent it to us and it's a great exercise for us to focus on this all this week.  ( parenthesis are mine)

         Looking  Back, Looking Forward

Step 1)  Take a look back at all the things you’ve accomplished and the great experiences you had this year.  Spend a few minutes making a list of everything you’ve managed to achieve. Write them down… the big ones and the little ones. Call this your………… 2010 VICTORY LIST

Step 2)  Rid your life of tolerations. Take a serious look at the things you no longer want in your life; make a list of all the things you’d like to leave behind.

Step 3)  Think about your dreams for the future. What do you really want to bring into your life? What new skills would you like to learn? What would you like to do? How would you like to be? If you don’t know what you want, you can ask yourself the ‘miracle question’:  “If a miracle occurred during the night, and when you woke up tomorrow … everthing in your  life was exactly the way you’d like it to be, how would you know there’d been a miracle?”

Step 4)  Make a list of your goals for the year ahead. What would you like to accomplish? What would you like to learn? What would you like to get? Who would you like to meet? In what ways would you like to grow? What are you committed to this year that you did not do last year?

Step 5)  Read through your list of last years accomplishments (#1) and congratulate yourself for everything you did right.(Thanks Lord)  Imagine all the good feelings, thoughts and energies from your accomplishments.

Step 6)  Change something. We all get stuck from time to time. We don’t like change beause it’s uncomfortable. We can so easily get stuck in a routine that makes our lives dull and boring. (Raise the Bar)

Step 7) Forgive someone who may have hurt you. Wipe the slate clean. The biggest mistake we can make is to go into a new year with old baggage. Reconcile all damaged relationships as fast as you can. It isn’t easy … but it could be the most important thing you do all year.

Step 8) Forgive yourself. So you weren’t perfect in ’10 ..take solace in the fact that no one else was either. Forgive yourself and try not to make the same mistakes again. (You are a child of God becoming .. He is not done with you yet,  you are His special creation. )  

Step 9) Commit to putting ( God and ) your family first in your life. You have a lot going on in your life. If you are on the fast track to success, you can easily take your family for granted. When the dust clears from all that striving, the things that matter most have to do with your family.

Step 10)  Commit to a life of gratitude. In my opinion we need to spend more time being grateful and less time being critical. Make a list of 20 things you are most grateful for….