Are you ready to end 2022 strong? Put desire, discipline, drive, and dedication on the rack. Perhaps, you need to skip that NYE party to lift yourself and start 2023 the right way.
What's the right way? That's for you to decide.
If your goal is to end 2022 with a sense of accomplishment, use the next 48 hours with intentionality. Do not wait until January 1; implement a slight change in your life today. For example, if losing weight is on your list, do one pushup before lunch and make one plate instead of two at dinner.
You can expedite recovery from this year's holiday activities through exercise, portion control, and rest.
Silly hats, ecstatic children, soccer games in the front yard, dinner with friends, and a long run sums up my Christmas day. The holidays continued with Monday’s Boxing Day and the start of Kwanzaa. Tomorrow, I celebrate 13 years of marriage with my beautiful life partner.
My goals for 2023 and beyond include tasks aligned with improving in my personal and professional affairs. I want to make a minimum of thirty more minutes per day of mindful time with my family and train for at least one marathon in the new year. Fifty-two more blog posts, twelve video creations, two article submissions, and one book proposal made the professional list.
I am ending 2022 with meaningful Kwanzaa-inspired activities. Below is a snapshot of this week. Maybe, it provides you with goals to consider as part of your resolutions.
For Monday’s Umoja (Unity), we hiked with friends to the highest peak in Antigua and enjoyed dinner together. You can make attending a group exercise class or sharing a meal with friends one of your weekly or monthly goals.
On Tuesday, Kujichagulia (Self-determination), I jogged 12 miles, and the children wrote down one of their six-month goals. We also went to see Wakanda Forever; yes, I enjoyed it. Aim to run or walk one mile or more every week in 2023. Ask your children or spouse about their goals and how you can support them.
Wednesday’s Ujima (Collective work and responsibility) Everyone helped clean the yard. Explore how you can work with others to solve a mutual problem.
In honor of Thursday’s Ujamaa (Cooperative economics), I arranged for a local plumber to repair another water challenge at the house. The children wrote a hypothetical business plan. Is 2023 the year for you to start a business? If so, who will join your team and serve as the first investors?
Today, the fifth day, Nia (Purpose), I am finishing this blog piece, training capoeira, recording a video, and convincing the children to do something that does not involve watching YouTube.
Saturday’s Kuumba (Creativity), plan includes meditation, meaningful writing time, and celebrating another year of marriage.
We finish Kwanzaa on Sunday’s Imani (Faith) with fifteen minutes to pray and read scriptures supportive of extending the seven principles into 2023.
This week, like this year, has not been perfect. Our home has had more water shortages and electricity outages than I can count. I had to call the realtor, electrician, and plumber on Wednesday and Thursday.
I experienced wins and losses like you.
In 2022, I attended my mother’s 70th birthday party and coordinated the technological resources for the luncheon. Unfortunately, the projector displaying the video I created for my mom went out halfway through the presentation.
When my sister successfully defended her dissertation, I sat around the table with her committee, family, and friends. Within 48 hours, covid cases among the group surfaced.
My son’s swim team won a historic championship for Antigua and Barbuda. We relied on our emergency savings and the donations of family and friends to cover the travel accommodations.
Reflection highlights the ups and downs along the rollercoasters of our lives.
During 2022, I added 52 blog posts to this site. Every Friday, I put myself out there to help you climb to the highest version of yourself. If you’re not there yet, no worries, you have time today to make progress.
Pause and think about this year, week or day. See if what you discover about yourself, your family, or your community helps you start 2023 fresh and charged to achieve new goals.
Thank you for reading and sharing this blog in 2022. In part to your support, I have attracted more readers to my work. Because of an internal drive that pulls me forward to improve, you will see more of these posts in the new year. Subscribe and end this year right!
The picture shows all four numbers of 2023 on fire. Some fires still need to be extinguished: the fire of hatred being showered on the Ukraine; the fires of the Sierra Nevadas which burned constantly due to too little rain; the fires of racism that continues without abate; and the fires of hatred between people of different political viewpoints. Here is a prayer that all those fires are extinguished during 2023, Dr. Lindsay.