I “Aspire to Inspire”, and yes, that licence plate was the one I had on my car in Cayman. Seeking to inspire is part of what has driven me to write daily for over six years.
Today’s post, then, uses my own reflections to, I hope, inspire you to consciously take time to first reflect on your 2023, then to turn your thoughts and gaze to 2024.
Each year I seek to take a significant amount of quiet time to simply “be”, whilst allowing myself to reflect on the year that has been. Once that feels complete, I turn my mind towards the year ahead. At this time last year, the dominant theme for 2022 was, well, that I was diagnosed with cancer at the start of March and that was everything for me until August. After that, my stepmother passed away in October, the first of my four parents to leave us as we journey through life. These two personal happenings were so major that my memories of that year of anything else are somewhat otherwise overwhelmed. This year, though, happily saw no such challenging personal events. I am in great health, all the family are too. As I wrote that sentence I am suddenly reminded of how our health is everything, yet it is all too easy not to pay sufficient attention to our physical and mental health. A useful reflection to start with.
2023 also saw me moving house and settling into a new place that I sense will be home for a number of years to come. I’ve also been able to go home to Cayman five times, so seen lots of my sons over there, other family, and friends, plus support multiple clients and pro bono projects. As to work, this was a highly fulfilling year. I entered the year with my self-imposed cap of six clients and worked with all of them throughout the full year, working with them and observing their growth and progress and that of their businesses throughout the year, which was a tremendous pleasure and privilege all around. All in all, though, 2023 felt like a consciously quiet year, and I am happy for that after 2022. My reflective word for the past year is GRATITUDE.
Turning my gaze towards 2024, and starting with work, I will continue to cap my clients at a maximum of six, as this has served them and my work well. As I have written about of late on this blog, I will have space for up to two new clients from February 2024, so if you are ready to be supported by me in elevating your leadership and with “what comes next” for you and your business, talk to me soon, as once the “cap” of six is reached again, the opportunity will be gone for a time once again. On a personal level, as I have continued to simplify life (following my principle of “enough-ism”), I feel “spacious” around the year ahead, with no goals, targets, or projects.
All of that means, then, that I will likely have space. Some of it will see some travel, and a lot of it will be devoted to fitness. Beyond that, though, I sense I will choose one or two projects to commit to. Several have been burgeoning in 2023, from national-level projects such as addressing the affordable housing crisis (seeing real progress developing with the concept being developed), supporting a long-term vision and future for the NHS (aiming high, why not !?), and also looking at entrepreneurial projects such as “work near home” opportunities, as well as being more active advising scale-ups as a board advisor with “skin in the game”.