All things, good or bad, inevitably come to an end.
It’s been a long year and with it has come, and gone, the usual challenges and celebrations.
But you’ve survived; you can look back on your experiences and learn from them.
Personal highlights
On a personal note, there are two things that I’m grateful for:
1) Discipline trumps motivation
Don’t be fooled any longer. Motivation is overrated. I’ve come instead to appreciate the power of discipline, and have realised that discipline trumps motivation.
This year brought forth an addition to my family. With the pressures of being a new mum to a healthy, demanding baby boy, I began to make excuses about blogging. For the first six to eight weeks, I was predictably sleep-deprived, continuously ‘recovering’ and almost stopped blogging altogether. I reckoned that life was too short to court unnecessary stress. Coupled with health concerns which needed to be addressed, I of course had legitimate reasons for taking a ‘break’. Indeed I almost stopped blogging.
But I reached deep down to draw upon the last ounce of discipline I didn’t know I had. I told myself that if I could manage to churn out well-written blog posts—and I never compromise on quality—between May and June (before and after the birth of my third child), then I could prod on throughout my maternity leave, and continue to blog until I resumed work in August.
It was a struggle but it worked.
Forget motivation; discipline is the key to achieving your goals. Moreover, you will feel inspired to stay the course and will continue with a worthwhile initiative.
It was a struggle but it worked.
Forget motivation; discipline is the key to achieving your goals. Moreover, you will feel inspired to stay the course and will continue with a worthwhile initiative.
Now since there’s a season for everything under the sun, a time would come for me to stop blogging, and that will be fine.
But not now.
So as a new baby changes everything, I have needed to adjust and to plan accordingly. In life, change is incontestable anyway so my new mantra is this: forward ever, backwards never.
2) Birthday milestone
I celebrated a birthday milestone this year with family and friends in style – an intimate gathering in a classy restaurant in Ikoyi, Lagos. It was a much-needed night of relaxation with a photomontage and touching video tributes.
I was able to unwind and to really appreciate the efforts made by family and friends to ensure that night was memorable…which it was. I won’t forget that event in a hurry.
I have also come to value relationships and to note that I am truly blessed.
And for that I am grateful.
Conclusion
On this blog, I celebrated the fourth blog anniversary in March. For those who missed the list of articles published in the blog’s fourth year, you could view the titles, descriptions and links here and here. Be sure to catch up on posts you couldn’t read and share your favourite quotes from those articles in your networks.
Blogging since 2012 has been rewarding and I hope to continue on this journey. Whether or not I get recognition for my work would not determine the frequency at which I write or the quality of the articles I post. This is because what is more important to me is that I continue to acquire knowledge and that I add value.
In the spirit of the season, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and I wish you joyous New Year celebrations. Spend the holidays with loved ones and cherish your relationships. In the final analysis, they are what truly matter in life.
See you in 2017.
Forward ever…
P.S – I’ve added a new page to this blog: My Clients. It can be accessed from the homepage. Kindly take a look. Remember that I provide customised communication coaching for individuals, groups and companies. Contact me for details if you need help.
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N.B: First image courtesy of Renjith Krishnan; via freedigitalphotos.net. Second and third images courtesy of Stuart Miles; via freedigitalphotos.net. Last image courtesy of Tanya3597; via freedigitalphotos.net.
Nicely put, Suzi.
However, for me, discipline spurs me on because there are many days I just don't 'feel' like blogging, especially when the end of the month approaches and I have no idea on what to write about. Discipline forces me to grit my teeth and get on with what needs to be done. The motivation comes when I actually start the process 🙂
Come back soon!
I would say you need both at some point on your journey.Motivation gets you started but discipline keeps on track .
Thanks for reading!
Loving the title so much positivity! AE (UK)