It’s the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010! Happy New Year!

Now is the time to reflect on the past year’s experiences:

• What you enjoyed
• What you learned
• What you accomplished
• What you meant to do but did not

Sometimes it seems that year to year items appear on the lists that are similar. That could indicate being in a comfort zone.

We had some family visiting over the holidays and shared some of Memphis music history by visiting Sun Studios and Graceland. Wonderful reconnections to Rock ‘n Roll beginnings.

What struck me again about Graceland is that it is captured in time with the decor and design. You could say it has a 60′s mindset!

Connecting to the past is great to learn and appreciate the experiences that others had which served as influences for many things we enjoy today. The problem with the past comes when we stay in it – with hairstyles, fashion, and even mental thoughts.

The past is what we know and often forms the comfort zone that repeats itself over and over. Often we stay in the comfort zone because we have a fear of failure in trying something new because when we have tried things before, we failed. Yet when you read about historical and even currently successful people, many of them experienced failure and often repetitively.

Challenge and change is where growth and expanded learning occurs. What can you challenge yourself to experience or do this year that you have never done?

As you define what to accomplish this year, consider that there are two ways to approach this:

1. Goal setting
2. Problem solving

Goal setting is what is most people talk about. This is best for someone who likes to think about the future and is energized when thinking about moving toward something.

The other approach is Problem solving. This works much better for people who think about the past and are energized when thinking about moving away from something.

For example, you could set a goal about increasing your financial income or you could explore how to solve the problem of too much credit card debt. Either approach will help you with the situation.

Enjoy getting out of your comfort zone and stretching to experience the new and different.

Remember no matter what happened in 2009, you can begin again in 2010!