Here we are on the last day of 2017! While many people are preparing for a New Year’s Eve celebration, I am pondering what 2018 will bring. Oh, not in a worldly sense – but in one more personal and intimate. What I can control and how I want to be in the coming year.

Now is the time I reflect a bit on the current year and look at my successes as well as the areas in which I did not quite live up to what I expected for myself. Of course, in order to do that, I need to revisit my vision and goals set at the beginning of the year. Once I see the progress – or lack thereof – the process of planning 2018 becomes more clear and can be completed with greater ease!

Does that happen for you?

Let’s back up a moment. I have a few questions for you: Have you written you Life’s Vision? If not, how do you know where you are going? Or, are you just drifting along, allowing life to happen? What would it be like for you to set the course for your life – in writing – and create the life you’ll love to live? Do you know that starts with Vision?

The Merriam-Webster definition of Vision: the act or power of seeing: Sight … a thought, concept or object formed by the imagination … mode of seeing or conceiving … unusual discernment or foresight …

Your vision for your future is your imagination creating a picture of who and what you aspire to be! It is about seeing a better future for yourself. It is about seeing a life that is fulfilling, passionate, deeply satisfying and complete. It is all about YOU and you are in the driver’s seat! How great is that!

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” Carl Jung.

I can hear you now: How do I create this Vision Statement, Coach? What is it suppose to look like? How do I know if I did it right?

Breathe, dear one! How about we make this happen with ease and grace? Would that be okay?

There is no ‘right or wrong’ – it is what YOU want it to be. It can be as long or short as you like/need. Look inside and create the life you will look back on throughout the year and say: YES! Where you direct your focus is where you will go. It’s really just that simple!

Are you ready to get started? Here are a few questions you might like to consider:

1. How can I be more present?
2. Where can I be more accountable?
3. How can I take better care of myself and those I love?
4. In what ways can I contribute to others?
5. What actions can I take to ensure I have no regrets?
6. What footprints do I want to leave?
7. Who in my life am I willing to forgive?
8. Where am I in auto-pilot?
9. What is one thing I really want to do that I have not yet done?
10. What am I most grateful for?

This is, of course, not an all-inclusive list; nevertheless, it is a possible lift-off point for you! Just creating a space for allowing your imagination to take a fresh look at what is important to you and where you intentionally direct your focus will help you to create a life you’ll love.

Take a look – what do you see?

How will you show-up throughout 2018?

What will it be like on December 31, 2018, when the person reading this article today takes a look back?

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” – – Thoreau

Here we are in the first week in December and much of the conversation revolves around gifts to buy and give. Just yesterday, I talked to my eldest son to get ideas for his younger brother. And the week prior, I sent a text to my granddaughter with an idea of what she could buy for her dad. I’ve bought the ‘no more than $10.00’ gift for a luncheon and I’ve started a list of ideas for my best friend. The stores and on-line continue to bombard us with super-saving-sales and the Big Toy book is already well worn with children thumbing through to point out at least one gift-getting idea per page! Yes, it is December and everyone is focused on what to give and hopes of what they will get.

I could never understand why it was so hard for my parents to tell me what they wanted for Christmas (or birthdays or Mother’s/Father’s Day). Well, that is until I added a few decades to my ‘how old are you’ answer! And now, as yet another birthday for me approaches, I think I finally get it. It really isn’t about the object or article I receive, it is about the person on the other end of the package.

Oh, the things I receive are wonderful and I appreciate the thought, time, effort and expense that goes into the giver selecting and presenting these things for me. I know that when I select something for someone else, I think about how it might surprise and please them. I get warm inside thinking about the other person’s reaction and hope it will warm their heart and make them smile.

And that is what it is about – – wearing the smile someone else gave me through their kindness and thoughtfulness. I think that is what my parents were trying to teach me. It really is the thought that counts!

I see this now, with my 96 year old Mother, who really has no want for anything. She is in relatively good health, has a wonderful apartment with very caring and loving health professionals to support her. She has lovely friends in the complex and they are all very concerned about each other. She has a nice wardrobe that we freshen with the seasons. So, what can I get her? What will warm her heart? What will bring her smile?

Do you know what it is? I do! It is the same for nearly everyone – it is the “You Matter” gift. For my Mother, it is the schedule phone call each week and the spur-of-the-moment, out-of-the-blue, just-because phone call. It is the card that says ‘just wanted to say hi!’ It is remembering and sharing special moments of times gone by. It is the thought – knowing someone is thinking of you, cares for you and wants you to wear their smile.

What ‘You Matter’ gift have you received? Which have you given? What is the next you’ll give? Don’t look now…but are you smiling? You wear it well!