It has been busy for me in the past few months. I have grown by learning from my mistakes. Mistakes are important as they teach us things we would not have learnt by inaction. This brings me to mind to ask how we look forward to our ends.
If at the beginning of the year we had set goals to fire our year, how prepared are we to tick the checklist of things that we achieved and the ones we did not? Let me share with you one of the goals I set earlier this year. I started out the year with a goal to improve myself in the area of reading good books. I set a goal to read three books before the year end. Some may see this as a simple goal to achieve. I am not a good reader but I learnt from my mentor that readers are leaders. Something I want to really be – a Leader.
Unfortunately, I am not a good reader. But have I completed one book? No. Have I attempted to read? Yes. How many books? Four. Should I rate myself by how much progress I have made in reading such books, I would say I have improved my reading skills. I have completed the books in this order:
BOOK 1 (How to Win Friends and Influence people – Dale Carnegie) – 35% complete
BOOK 2 (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People –Â Stephen Covey) – 26% complete
BOOK 3 (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus – John Gray) – 47% complete and
BOOK 4 (Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill) – 53% complete
Think of the number of pages in these books and you would get a picture of what my thought process has been like since this year. Have I become better? Yes, in some ways especially in my thought process.
I used to be a person who likes to read on the go. I would rather read a blog on my mobile phone than sit down to read a full book. Now I have found time to read a book and have even increased my “focus-ability”.
Back to the subject of this post. One of the good ways I found in preparing for the end of the year is to take inventory. This to me, is a very important step in self-improvement. It helps you know where you are and guides your measurement and decision on areas to improve upon.
Another way I find useful is to meditate. Switch off all distractions (this should include all phones, laptops, and media player devices). Taking time out to listen to ones self is important in preparing for the end.
Lastly, asking for feedback from friends and family or people who are close to you can be of good help to aid in preparing for the end.
As the year draws to a close, I become very busy. This is the peak period for me in my place of work. Just in case I have no time to post at Christmas, I wish to thank you for reading my posts this year and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year in advance.
Set a bigger goal for 2014. 🙂
Chibuike Ogwogwo 