It’s a Wonderful Life + Taking Stock
December 16th, 2015 by Morna
Have you been watching holiday movies? I know I have several favorites. I love “White Christmas” because of memories of my sisters and me as young girls. We used to love to sing and dance along with Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen) as they sang “Sisters.” And, who does not enjoy “It’s a Wonderful Life” and George Bailey taking stock of his life? The movie has lots of lasting messages. One is that we all have gifts that impact others. You will remember Clarence the angel showing George that many things would be different without his life touching others. I know we lose sight of what we contribute. One of the other lessons was about appreciating how blessed we really are. I know I try to take that to heart every day.
Yesterday I offered a virtual planning day. This opportunity was exclusively for those people who purchased tickets to CABS or joined our Creative Passion to Profit Boot Camp. I found it valuable, as I know that those who joined me did.
One of the exercises that we did was taking stock of 2015 — celebrating our accomplishments, understanding where we had difficulty, acknowledging what we learned about ourselves in the process, and understanding how we limit ourselves. We are our own Clarences, in a sense. I always find this practice eye-opening on a variety of levels, and it is valuable as you step into planning and achieving in 2016.
What questions did I ask and answer for myself? Here they are. I hope you will find time to answer these for yourself.
1. What were your successes? What did you accomplish? For many of us, it is so easy to move onto the next thing on our list, that we forget to stop and look at what we did accomplish. By acknowledging these accomplishments, you build confidence and set yourself up for future success. I know people who create a list of 100 accomplishments per year. How many can you list?
2. What were your biggest disappointments? Yes, we all start out with lots of big goals, and we don’t always accomplish them. And, it is really hard to admit where we didn’t get what we wanted, personally or professionally. But we can’t grow either as human beings or business owners if we do not look at this honestly.
3. What did you learn from your successes and your disappointments? These can be things you learned to do or things you learned about yourself. This has always been powerful for me to consider. I have know that life is a classroom, and it shows up here.
4. How did you limit yourself and what was its impact? What did this belief cost you? How has it benefited you? I think looking at the pros and cons of your limiting beliefs is powerful. Once you look at this, consider how you might reframe your limiting beliefs so they no longer limit you.
Here are some of the resources I shared during our planning day. You will find additional questions for planning in Your Best Year Yet by Jinny Ditzler. And if you need help getting past your limiting beliefs, I think The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks is a wonderful resource.
Let me know how your planning goes. What were your big successes? And, of course, what your favorite holiday movie is. Just leave a comment below or go over to the ICAP Facebook or Google+ pages and leave a comment there.
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Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft business success. Her weekly e-zine offers tips, techniques and inspiration to help you craft business success from your creative arts passion. You can sign up for a FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.
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