WHAT I LEARNED IN 2018 by Kim Vermaak

When I was a student, one of our lecturers did a exercise familiar to many, but not so readily applied.  He took a large jar and threw a whole bunch of stand in it. Then he took some stones and added in the stone on top of the sand.  But not all the stones fitted into the jar.

  

He then re-did the experiment and threw all the stones in and then threw in the sand afterwards. Surprisingly even with all the stones in the jar, the sand simply flowed through all the stones and everything fitted in beautifully. The aim of this exercise was to show us that when we are focused on the big things, the small things seem to just fall into place.

  

But if we focus on the small things, we find that we are just not able to get all those big things in.

We are all granted the same amount of time in a day, but sometimes we can focus on the small things and then at the end of the year find that those neglected big dreams and big plans come back to haunt us.

As I reflect on the close of the year, I have to do an inventory and look at what I have done with the time I was allocated.

Did I do the big things? Did I follow through on my dreams?  Am I a bigger person (and I do not mean, did I have too much Christmas Pudding?)? 

Did I start working on all those big dreams?

  

Despite the challenges of the year, I took a leap and committed to participating in a new one year supplier enterprise development program.

At the beginning of  the program, when I looked at the calendar I realized that I would have to take entire days out of my business. I would not be allowed to use my cell phone unless during a tea break.  The controlling micro managing part of my brain was screaming out, that without me things could not get done. But actually they did get done. As I committed to growing myself, even when challenges arose, I was there at every event. I noticed that the group size began to diminish. The name tags left out at reception, were of people who committed to arriving, but never actually came. Only a handful of us remained from the original group.

I learned so much about myself and formed a new support group of people who got me through the difficult challenges of 2018.

  

I learned to do things differently than I did them in 2017, because necessity thrust that change upon me and I had to adapt or sink.

  

I certainly do not want to repeat the challenges of 2018  - but I do know this, I have learned more, I have changed more and I realized that when you are ready to change, you can take those big projects.

  

You do not have to do all of them at once, but you can commit to each year, add another big stone.

  

I encourage you to take stock of your life at the end of this year.  Have a look at those big goals and reach out, grab one of those goals and say, this new year, I choose to commit to myself.  I choose to show up.

  

I choose to be a bigger and better me.