Winter Wishes Will
Winter Wishes Will
With the first December snowfall in Chicago happening today, we thought it would be useful to share some thoughts about winter as well as our wishes for the season.
Winter
Winter is a season which many of us resist. It is cold, it is wet or slushy, the days are short and generally we are confined indoors. In business, winter provides opportunities for some while others must hibernate. This winter, I invite you to consider fully accepting winter for what it is. It is an opportunity like no other.
Years ago, I hit a really rough patch during winter. In a conversation with my coach at the time, she asked me to look at what the positives of winter were. I struggled. Then she said, look at that tree over there. The tree had no leaves. I could see what was behind the tree, and I could see the trunk and the branches clearly. This view was a revelation for me because I had never thought of what winter provided. Winter allowed me to see the underpinnings of the tree without any leaves obstructing the view, and it allowed for me to see through the tree. Winter was actually providing me with a new view of what was already there.
Your business has an opportunity now called a winter view. Are your customers or clients snowbirds? Does the manufacturing firm close down for these last two weeks? Is it the busy season, where there is so much activity that there is no time for a meeting? Have you been to a UPS store in the last week? Is winter a time for rest, or a time for high growth? Each business is different, and you may want to inquire for yourself where your business falls on a spectrum of activity during winter. What insights might that provide? Seasons matter. I invite you to find the positive reasons why winter matters for you personally, and for your business. Please give up resisting winter. Winter is a gift if you know how to open it.
Wishes
Here we are, at the end of the year. We all have wishes for a bright new year. 2020 has taught us so much about our own expectations and life itself. If this year didn’t change you for the better in some way, my wish for you is that you discover how it did so before the new year. For me, I got in touch with what was important for me in my life and for my business. Living true to freedom and abundance has never been more important than this year.
A powerful exercise I do every year is to bring closure to the year and then to create the new year. How do you bring closure? You look at what did and didn’t happen throughout the year, and you ask yourself, what do I need to say or do to bring closure to it? For example, you may need to forgive a client who didn’t keep a promise that directly impacted your livelihood. Or you may need to let go of a point of view that something that happened this year shouldn’t have happened. Or, you may need to take responsibility for something you did that you regret doing. We are all human, it is okay. Lastly, you may need to give voice to something you have resisted recognizing. The idea here is to find a way to fully accept the whole year and to get to a space of peace and acceptance. Only from there can you create a new year that leaves this year in the past and the new year wide open for all kinds of opportunities.
Will
Just as an angry sea will run its course, the opportunity for you during this holiday season -- and broadly during winter -- is to let go of any anger, frustration, resentment, or guilt and instead to channel your energy into building something for the future. Only then can you move forward in a way that brings freedom, abundance, and joy to your life and the life of those around you.
In closing, this winter I wish you the will to leave 2020 in 2020 and to create the most incredible new year of your life and business. One fact I know for sure: 2021 has never happened. It is inviting you to create it. My Wish for you is you Will do so this Winter.
Best Wishes.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers