what to do in 2012

I will be sharing a secret here. 

Every year in between Christmas and New Year, I do a sort of personal retreat. After the Christmas rush and just before the fireworks explode, I enjoy the lull of the cool silence. I look back through the year that was, thank God for the blessings, identify my mistakes, figure out how to work on them, and write down the things I want to do the following year. It's a fun exercise and somehow I feel this keeps me moving forward and growing. 

This year, I kinda worked on this earlier. My friends and I started to look at our life and be thankful for the things we accomplished and received as early as 24 November, Thanksgiving Day. :) Yes, Thanksgiving isn't a Filipino tradition, but we just thought it would be fun to celebrate it anyway. (Seriously, we're just looking for reasons to be together...and eat! Hahaha!) At the same time we also wrote down the things we want to happen in our lives for the next year. It was just about creating the energy and excitement for the new year and also come up with concrete actions on how to make them happen .

Next year, I decided I will work on loving myself more and earning more money. I figured that it's time that I start building a new phase of my life as an adult. Besides, 2012 will surely be the turning point of my professional life. I am just so excited to do the things that I really wanted to do but I am just keeping at bay. NOW is the year to make them come true! Yiiiii! This is really going to be a blast!

________________ 

I found this article on creativity by Alessandra Lanot from her blog Life After Breakfast. She shared a list which can help identify the things you're passionate about and maybe help us discover your life path/direction. Here it is:

1) I really enjoy... (list 15 things)

2) I am very good at... (list 15 things)

3) I am very interested in... (list 5 things)

4) I don't do it much, but I like to... (list 5 things)

5) When I was a child, I wanted to be... (list 3 things)

6) If it weren't too late, I would... (list 3 things)

7) If money were not an object, I would... (list 5 things)

8) If my parents wouldn't object, I would... (list 5 things)

9) These are the people I admire... (list 3 names)

10) These are the people I secretly admire... (list 3 names)

11) The world is in need of more... (list 5 things)

12) I think God wants me to be... (list 2 things)

And while you're at it, make this last list:

The 10 Things You Accomplished This Year 

I will work on it too and maybe I can post my answers. :) Hope you'll come up with your own things to do! :) Have a productive and purposeful life, everyone! :)