It’s the time to set goals for the coming year. But if we don’t learn from our mistakes, the future will likely look like the past.
I just read a blog post with the title, “The Biggest Mistake I Made in 2013,” and I think it’s a good thing to reflect on and learn from.
When I try to think of my “biggest” mistake, my mind floods with more than mistakes. I think of my regrets, problems and obstacles; but I also appreciate the lessons, accomplishments and revelations.
Here are a few of my high and lows from 2013:
My greatest lesson was figuring out what truly brings me the most joy and peace. But then I also learned that living solely for personal joy and peace leaves out 2/3 of what makes living complete. (see related post: Is What We Call Contentment, Really Settling for Less?)
My biggest obstacle was having the largest contract in my history of business end; reducing my revenue over 60%. Ouch! That was nearly a death blow. But it’s not my biggest mistake. In fact, the loss of the contract helped to expose the lethargy I had developed. Having a substantial amount of income from one source makes you vulnerable. And if the client is not very demanding, it can make you lazy. Such was my problem. I lost my killer instinct while putting my company in a desperate position.
My greatest accomplishment is the poster I created.It wasn’t a money maker, but it is something that will out last money. I feel proud because it’s something I shipped. One of my goals for the year was to ship things. ie. Complete or finish projects. I had hoped to do many more, but I’ll take one as a step in the right direction.
My biggest regret: Unpaid taxes. I wish I would have been more proactive about keeping up with the tax man. Be that putting money aside or paying down my old tax bill. It’s been an annoying reality for the entire year… and I’ve got no one to blame but myself.
My greatest revelation: Luke 16:11 “If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” For some reason, though I’ve sought accumulating wealth, I haven’t really respected the management or stewardship of it. But Jesus says in the above verse, that managing money is a prerequisite to being trusted with deeper or spiritual matters. Oops..
My biggest mistake is probably being slow to end things. I’ve been more passive than I’d like to admit and it spread into multiple areas. I was slow to put an end to either my own foolishness or allowing under performance from those working for me.
Necessary Endings is a book I reviewed a few weeks ago and it explains the value and criticalness of why things need to end. My review and subsequent posts talk enough on this issue, so I won’t go into more details here.
So there you have it.
If I can just do more of the good and less of the bad, 2014 should be a good year, right?
We’ll see.
Merry Christmas!
– Arvell Craig