The passing of 2009 moves us into a brand spanking new decade. Isn’t it amazing how quickly the last decade zipped by? It seems like only yesterday that the world was in a panic over Y2K. It’s hard to believe that it was literally 10 years ago today that I awoke to realize that none of the doom and gloom predictions came true.
This got me thinking though about all the blog posts I have read over the past few weeks of people who have reviewed 2009 and revealed their ambitions for 2010. What I haven’t seen is anyone reviewing the decade in relation to where they were on January 1st, 2000 compared to where they are now on January 1st, 2010.
While it is obviously important to review the year that was and plan for the year that will be, a year is not an accurate reflection of the progress (or lack thereof) that has been made for the simple fact it is too small a sample. In my case, a review of my year represents only 1/44th of my life.
A decade review helps put all progress in perspective as it is a much more encompassing look at who you were and how far you have come.
It’s much like the growth of a child. While changes are certainly noticed from year to year, it isn’t until you sit down and look at the photo album that you begin to truly appreciate the full scope of just how far your child has come.
So to it is with us.
I have taken the liberty to put together a few questions as a guide to ask yourself so you can get a better perspective of just how far you have come along over the last 10 years. I would strongly recommend you write your answers down to make the exercise more concrete.
- Where were you 10 years ago? What country, city, home were you living in?
- How old were you? (This is not a trick question, it just simply helps put things in perspective by acknowledging your age )
- What work were you doing? Were you doing what you loved?
- Were you making the world a better place with your contribution?
- What new skills were you learning?
- How much were you earning?
- What kind of car were you driving?
- How much did you have in personal savings?
- Were you in a relationship? If so, how would you categorize that relationship? Does that relationship still exist?
- What was your outlook on life?
- Were you happy with where you were at that time in your life? Were you happy with you?
- What issues were important to you then?
- How was your health? What kind of eating habits did you have? Did you exercise?
- Who were your closest friends?
- How would you characterize your relationship with your immediate family?
- How did you spend your free time?
- What dreams did you want to achieve?
Now flash forward to today and answer those same questions again. Are you where you thought you would be?
The reality is you will be happy with some things, but disappointed how others have turned out to date.
So it leads to the obvious question. Where do you want to be at the end of this decade? What will life look like for you on December 31st, 2019? Use the questions above as a guide, but add and delete freely to come up with something more comprehensive that is relevant for you.
Again, it is recommended you write these answers down, but what is more important is to save it somewhere so you can review it in 10 years time.
So you now have my two cents about why you should quit ignoring the decade that was. The rationale? You just never know what it will provide that will drive your growth for the next decade to come.
To a great idea worth quitting,
Dean
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