Happy New Year!

We are one day away from starting 2016. Starting a new year is like pulling out a fresh, clean piece of paper, knowing we can create anything we want on it. Our lives as a whole should be like a painting we are creating, and it's important to step back from time to time to make sure we are happy with the picture being produced.

I have written before about keeping goals for ourselves, and I am big believer in them. I always say you should have 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year goals. Write them down, keep them in a journal, and revisit them often. We should be constantly re-evaluating our progress.

This is not to say that if a certain goal doesn't happen that we should get down on ourselves. Some things are just harder than we anticipate. The important thing is, did you make progress, and did you actively work towards achieving that goal? So it's not that the end product that matters as much as the journey. You may end up achieving much different things than the goals you set, but what matters is how you focused and that you ultimately moved forward.

Take some time today to look back at the past year and think about things you can do now that you couldn't do one year ago. Take a moment to enjoy the thought of those things you have improved upon. It's so important with dancing to not get out of balance in terms of thinking about all we still have to achieve versus what we have achieved. Don't get stuck and depressed about what still needs to be done, revel in how far you have come - at least for today.

Here's a journal exercise I challenge you to complete in the next few days, as a reflection for the new year, and the bright shiny piece of paper in front of you. Of course, you can set more than three goals for each three month section, but try to decide on at least three.

Three things that improved over the past year:
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Three things that I didn't make as much progress on as I would like in the past year:
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Three things that improved more than I thought they would in the past year:
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My top three strengths and/or steps I enjoy the most:
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My top three weaknesses and/or steps I enjoy the least:
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Three ways I can work on my strengths:
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Three ways I can work on my weaknesses:
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3 month goals (by April 1, 2016)
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6 month goals (by July 1, 2016)
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9 month goals (by October 1, 2016)
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1 year goals (by January 1, 2017)
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