A couple of days ago, I participated in a year-end reflection exercise facilitated by a colleague. A small group of entrepreneurs had come together to reflect on how 2023 turned out for us.
Of all the questions I reflected on, the one that struck me the most was this: What’s ONE thing you want to celebrate about the year?
My Resistance to Celebrations
The emphasis on celebration gave me a pause. While I am familiar with the importance of celebrating wins — however small, I rarely make it a priority.
To a part of me, celebrating my success feels a little pointless and self-indulgent. Yes, yes. You accomplished that. Great. But there’s so much more to do. Let’s keep going.
But as I paused to look back at 2023, I couldn’t help but notice how profoundly my life has changed this year.
And I realized something else: the work will never be done.
Never.
There will never be a good enough time to celebrate.
Never the right moment to feel proud of myself.
Never the feeling of having done enough or been enough or grown enough.
I actually like this about life. That there’s always more learning and growth possible.
But after my recent reflection, it feels almost disrespectful to keep going without acknowledging how far I’ve come.
I wouldn’t do that to someone else. I would feel proud of them and want to celebrate with them before they move on to new adventures. I frequently encourage coaching clients to pause and celebrate.
Why deprive myself of all the positive emotions, motivation, and confidence that comes from celebrating?
My Choice to Celebrate 2023
So, I decided to make a list of what I am most proud of in 2023:
1. Writing. This year marks the end of my life-long struggle with writing. I have written (and shared) a lot more in 2023 than ever before. More importantly, it has been a joyful, effortless process. I cannot even begin to describe how liberating it’s been. And I am deeply grateful to you all for being a part of this journey with me.
2. Self-compassion. After carrying an intellectual understanding of how important self-compassion is for years, I learned to embody it in 2023. Now I don’t just know how to be kind to myself, I am kind to myself. It has been a profound transition.
3. Relationships. 2023 has been a good year for many of my relationships. Because I was being kind and forgiving towards myself, I found it easier to offer other people the same grace. My relationship with my mother and my husband has improved. I’ve also been able to invest more deeply in my friendships, which has been great. And, I am showing up as a better mother than before, which has probably been the most important improvement from my perspective.
4. Work and money. 2023 has been the first year ever when I’ve earned a good income without burning myself out. In the corporate world, I made a lot of money but it cost me my time, energy, and health. In my business, when I had time and energy I couldn’t earn enough money, and the years when I earned well I also ended up burnt out. In 2023, I’ve done a lot of inner work around changing my relationship with money. The results are promising and I am curious to see how things turn out in 2024.
5. Food. This is another area where I’d been stuck for a long time but made progress in 2023. For the past few months, I’ve been eating much more balanced food without forcing myself or giving anything up. This one is still relatively new and I am finding my groove. But I do know that I’ve eaten more fruits and vegetables in the past four months than I did in a long, long time.
Just listing these accomplishments out is making me feel happier and more confident.
And for the part of me that’s insisting there’s more work to be done, I will add that a lot of work still needs to be done. I am not denying that. I am not claiming to be perfect at all of this. I am just saying that I’ve put a lot of effort into improving these areas of my life and there’s been progress. That feels worth acknowledging. I will get to the other stuff after I take a break during the holidays.
Over to You
If you had an amazing, transformative 2023 — how are you celebrating?
You could make a list like mine, share your accomplishments with supportive people in your life, treat yourself in a meaningful way, or find another way that works for you.
And if you’re reading this post and thinking: I wish my 2023 was as transformative as Yashi’s, stop right there.
These transformations didn’t happen in a year.
I began this journey in 2012. I’ve been at this for eleven years.
2023 was just the culmination of a lot of this work for me.
You have your own journey to make.
When you look back at 2023, what do YOU most want to celebrate?
I encourage you to give it a try.
Wishing you all a beautiful holiday season!