New Year, New Eyes

Happy New Year, friends!

It's that special time of year. The one for making resolutions, trying to reinvent ourselves, and focusing on envisioning great futures. This is all important work. It's BIG work. It makes us feel like we're taking an active role in shaping our lives. But I think that this year could be about taking another look, a deeper look at what we've already got and who we really are.

French novelist Marcel Proust said, "The real voyage of self discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

Imagine setting aside your filters. Letting go of assumptions, insecurities, and doubt, and approaching daily projects with curiosity, imagination, and wonder. Like Dorothy's Oz, life could switch from black and white to technicolor in the blink of your [new] eye.

So how do we do this? How do we let go of all we've amassed along the way, and approach life with wonder?

• Notice more. Use those new eyes to take in your surroundings, your colleagues, family and yourself. What do you see when you really take the time to look? What have you been missing? Jot it down. Take more interest in the people and world around you and take time to notice the small details.

• Ask more questions. You don't have all the answers. Trust me. Even if you are 100% sure that you do. Ask new questions. Ask new people. Try to start each conversation with a question, and not a statement. This opens up conversations for possibility.

• Be more curious about yourself. I don't mean analyzing every move you make or second guessing. We all do quite enough of that already. Ask yourself the big questions that you would ask a lover, or a friend. Ask yourself if you're happy. Dig deeper. Ask yourself what's missing. Ask yourself what you need to feel joyful, authentic, and whole. Then use those new eyes to see the possibilities that exist for you.