End of Year Retrospective
Hello All,
As we rapidly approach the new year, with all it's possibilities and uncertainties, it can be gratifying (and revealing) to appraise the current year. We can do this through various lenses. We can examine our accomplishments and failures. We can determine how much we have changed - are we more cynical or more hopeful than we were last year? We can review our goals from the beginning of the year and assess if we were able to achieve all or at least part of them.
Of course it is difficult to measure these things. We could have a notional report card and give ourselves a grade, perhaps in the key areas of health, wealth and relationships. Or we could simply examine our overall sense of wellbeing or disquiet. Regardless of how you do it, it is important to remember that your journey is completely unique and the best comparisons are to previous versions of yourself rather than in relation to others.
From a financial standpoint (coming back to what this newsletter is about), it is a great time to examine your finances and determine what you can do better. If you are an individual on a fixed income or salary, this is fairly simple. You need to ensure that you are earning more than you are spending and have some left over for savings (that can be invested in an RRSP or TFSA). If you are a small business owner, it can be a little more challenging as often earnings are unpredictable. In this case I advise you to estimate based on the information that you have available. Budgets makes this task quite easy and the internet has a plethora of templates and software to suit the style that you want. I will be doing a detailed blog post about this early next year so stay tuned.
Finally, I thought I would share this quote from Neil Gaiman which I find oddly motivating:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.
So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.”
I wish all of you the happiest of new year’s and I look forward to connecting with all of you in 2024!
