Dear 2015,
Thank you for an amazing year. You surprised me in so many ways. You taught many valuable lessons. You also humbled me and reminded me I have so much to learn. Here are some the biggest lessons you taught that stood out to me.
1. You taught me to always be grateful. No matter how busy I get it is important to take a moment each day to say thanks for all the amazing things in my life. Tomorrow is not promised.
2. You taught me that every person that I meet whether they bring me joy, sadness or just piss me off (especially that guy who cut me off on the interstate 94, I was mad at you but you cutting me off stopped me from texting and kept me from running into a deer 3 miles down the road. That could have been ugly) that they are gift to me.
3. You taught me sometimes you just have do things for yourself rather than just pleasing everyone. In other words you reminded me the power of saying NO. It’s easy to get caught up in making everyone happy. However, the best way to bring happiness to others is find joy within yourself.
4. You taught me to listen better and not just with my ears. You taught me to listen more with my eyes. People’s body language will alot of time tell you more about what they are thinking than any of the words that come out of there mouth.
5. Don’t let the scoreboard fool you…It’s easy to get caught up in the score when things are going good. However, the scoreboard doesn’t usually give you the whole story. Winning can cover up deficiencies. The scoreboard is usually a by product of something you did or didn’t do months earlier. Be the best you each day!
6. People just don’t want gifts, trinkets, what people want is attention. They want my presence vs presents. Funny story here. In 2014 my son asked me to take him fishing. In August of this year while we driving to our fishing spot my 9 yr old son said to me, “Just think all this fishing is because of me. Oh my goodness” I then asked him do you know why we go fishing? It’s not just to go fishing. He said, “I know because I will remember more the time we spent together and how many ugly fish we caught vs any toy you buy me.” He then proceeded to tell me, “Just so you know I still want to catch fish.” 🙂
7. You can’t help everyone. As much as you try. People have to want to help themselves. It’s a tough pill to swallow especially when you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel. However your dream can’t be someone else dream. You have find out what their dreams and goals are and they have to own their own dream. Until they do you will be pushing them rather than pulling them.
8. You reminded me that no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. In the words of Bob Marley, ” I don’t mind you judging me, but you better be sure hands are clean too.” Give grace to others if you want grace given to you. Yes, I made mistakes in 2015 and I am incredibly thankful for those who gave me grace. It reminded me, Hey empathize with others for second before you jump to judge them.
9. Finally you taught me that fears are truly what David Schwartz said in his book The Magic of Thinking Big, “Fear is nothing but false evidences appearing real.” When I first started this blog in late 2014 I was scared out of my mind. What are people going to say? Who am I? I was even lucky enough to have one of my superiors encourage me to write. Then finally you asked me, what’s on other side of fear? I then learned from encouraging emails, phone calls, and even letters that we all have something to offer each other. Don’t silence your voice. If you can connect with just one person. One person! That is what makes a difference.
So 2015 thank you for all the lessons. You kicked my butt in a good way. I am looking forward to dominating in 2016 while empowering, equipping, and encouraging others to become better leaders!
Truly Yours,
Tony Jalan
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PSS What were a few of your biggest lessons 2015 taught you?