Looking at 2020 in the Rear View Mirror
As I reflect on the year gone by, one of my personal highlights was attending a “Vision 2020: Your Life in Focus” wellness workshop hosted by Oprah Winfrey in New York in February. This was my first time attending an event targeted at physical and mental wellness. As I made the journey, it struck me how until that point, my approach to investing in personal development had been limited to professional and intellectual events, media and networking. It was time to think broader!
All my senses were engaged by the variety of sessions from dancing to guided meditation to awesome singing performances. Throughout the day, there were several slots allocated to journalling and answering big picture questions designed to help set personal wellness goals for the year ahead. As Oprah shared her own wellness journey, I captured several points which resonated with me. A few include:
Define what wellness means to you, and live in alignment with the flow of your life. “True wellness is the healthy balance of mind, body and spirit. We each have our own sense of balance, which shifts through time and experience, making wellness a lifelong journey. When balance is achieved, we enter into flow - life without resistance.”
Be honest about where you are in your mental, physical and spiritual life so you can set realistic and healthy intentions for where you want to go. That’s a fundamental starting point for creating any long-lasting change.
“An intention is the first whisper of purpose you bring to what you do or what you say. And the energy driving that motivation is what determines every outcome.”
Internal peace and being your best self often requires you to let go of pain, resentment or negativity you may feel towards others. Forgiveness is as much for the person who wronged you, as it is for you. I think there are many silent hurts we all carry which don’t serve us, and potentially taint our interactions with other people.
On the common struggle to achieve lifestyle balance, it took getting sick with pneumonia at one point to make Oprah slow down with all the different things she was working on! None of us is immune to our physical limitations, and our bodies will keep reminding us until we listen.
Taking a leaf out of the wellness journal provided at the event.
The other awesome highlight of the day was Oprah’s interview with Michelle Obama, of which my favourite takeaways were about how the former First Lady conducts herself. She seems to be a person who has a solid grasp of who she is and what she is capable of. She operates from a place of such unapologetic confidence and alignment with her values that I’m drawn to. Her demeanour impressed upon me that levelling up from where I am today requires authenticity in every space I occupy. Grounded in that kind of self-awareness, Archimedes’ words come to mind: “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world.”
Much of what I took note of comes down to doing the simple and profound things we know cognitively but struggle to practice consistently. As I review the year gone by, the workshop taught me the importance of:
Protecting my peace by setting healthy boundaries with other people and the obligations I commit to. By personalising this as my responsibility, it has helped me communicate more openly with others.
Understanding my intentions upfront so that whatever I do is structured accordingly, and is received with the good will behind it.
Paying attention to the areas of my life where I experience ‘flow’ and appreciating how that coincides with where I achieve my best results. I want more of that!
Giving my best to the people, initiatives and hobbies that matter the most. I find I am best able to do this when I can control how I spend my time. For me that’s ultimately where the rubber hits the road since if I must prioritise someone else’s urgencies, it could be to the detriment of my own priorities. Compromise not sacrifice is key as I navigate this issue.
Living light emotionally with the help of exercising forgiveness, empathy and kindness regularly. This has been instrumental in overcoming the anxiety and grief experienced during the course of this year.
These are the kind of principles I aim to infuse into my work life as I consider my next steps professionally. Putting my full life into focus may well be one of the most important steps I could take towards being impactful across all my endeavours. I’m looking forward to 2021 as I continue to grow wherever I am planted! As we all reflect on the experiences we’ve had this year, I hope we can identify highlights to celebrate as well as the grace to learn from, and move beyond, any shortcomings.
