The New Year signals a new beginning for all of us. You’ve had a week to get into the swing of 2022. The holidays are over, the Christmas decorations are back in storage for another 11 months, and the kids are back at school. It’s time to start making 2022 a year of growth, success, and prosperity.
The past two years have been hard. And while there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s up to us to make our futures brighter. Whether we are business owners, putative entrepreneurs, or employees with a side hustle (or two), we still have the opportunity to grow beyond our current situations. Even if we are simply employees, happy in our roles, it doesn’t mean there isn’t room for growth in our lives.
Sometimes the first week in January isn’t the best time to look at how you can grow in the year ahead. Let’s be honest, sometimes the holiday period is exhausting.
So to get you started, here are a few quotes to get you moving in the right direction.
“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives … not looking for flaws but for potential.”
– Ellen Goodman.
Perhaps not on January 1st, it depends on what kind of NYE celebration you had, but the following few days let you take stock and mull over what is going on in life and business. Too often, we allow ourselves to see only the problems and broken things, but perhaps we could be more productive and positive if we try to see the potential for growth and change rather than the need to fix things.
Perhaps the “cracks to be patched” are actually a potential opportunity to change and redesign. Or go in a different direction.
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
– Karen Kaiser Clark.
Nothing stays the same forever. Not you, your business or your clients. Everything changes. The key here is whether you grow as you change.
As your business matures or your ideas evolve, do you learn from your mistakes and strive to avoid them, or do you keep trying the same thing? No one says you have to grow your business but are you growing in experience, excellence, and quality?
“Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.”
– Germany Kent.
It’s never too late to start something new in a different direction. You have so much power in your indomitable human spirit to make changes in your life and correct them when they don’t turn out how you plan.
Adaptation is one of the critical survival skills. When one road seems unpassable, change direction and take a different route. Maybe you will change the destination too.
“Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.”
– Mike Dooley.
This is one of the best quotes to steer you away from waiting for things to come to you and propel you into action. It’s all about the passive and the active. It’s the active people who progress and grow through life, which is also valid for business. You won’t make any impact on your life, your surroundings or your business if you sit around passively waiting for things to come to you.
Maybe you’ve heard that “all good things come to those who wait”, but that doesn’t mean you don’t take positive actions. You can be patient and wait for results, but results always require doing something first.
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.”
– J.P. Morgan.
Whether you have already started or are about to start, make a choice and decide to make a move. The first step is often the hardest in determining your path.
From something as simple as beginning to take a walk every morning before starting work or building a business plan to create your new venture, the first step is always deciding you don’t want to stay where you are.
“This year, be structured enough for success and achievement and flexible enough for creativity and fun.”
– Taylor Duvall.
You might think that structure would be somewhat confining. However, a structure that incorporates working time and time for relaxation, and the flexibility to switch things around, will allow you to enjoy your work and your recharging far more than a rigid work schedule.
When you enjoy your work, you will be more productive and better placed to succeed.
“New year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.”
– Alex Morritt.
Let this be one of the quotes that inspire you literally or figuratively. You can keep plodding along at the same pace and reacting to anything that life throws your way. It will make for a pretty dull memoir if you stay that path year after year.
What would you want to say about your life, your achievements and your business if you were to write an autobiography? Would you like the same old story playing out throughout your life, or would you want to have some highs and lows in there?
Alternatively, you could write a book this year. What do you know and want to share? What do you have to share? If you have never written a book before, this could be something that takes you out of your same old routine and could also spread your name among your potential clients.
“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”
– Vern McLellan.
One of those quotes that tell you everything you need to know about yourself. If you don’t have anything to give, you sure as heck won’t get anything in return. Give everything you have to make this year YOUR year, and the universe will respond.
You might not like the answer and it might not respond in the way you expect, but the more you bring to your growth and prosperity, the more you will get back.
“And suddenly, you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”
– Meister Eckhart.
This is one of those quotes that puts you back in touch with your instincts. Sometimes, you just know.
You know that you are ready to start a new adventure, build something new, or follow a different path. When you know it deep in your soul and your bones, follow where it leads. It could be the new beginning or the new direction your life or business needed.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Who are you? Who does everyone else think you are? Only you get to decide who you are meant to be, and you have the power to determine who that is.
If you look in the mirror and aren’t content with the reflection, you have the power and the strength to decide to be whomever you want. Let this quote compel you to find the person you are and who you were meant to be.
“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.”
– Frank Scully
Nothing worth having wasn’t worth a little extra effort and not a little risk. Climbing out on that limb or risking a new business idea never comes with a guarantee. However, when the risk and the extra effort pay off, the reward is so much sweeter than the easy, low-hanging fruit.
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
– William James
Whether in life or business, what you do makes a difference. Your work or company might provide for your family, or it might provide work for others to provide for their families. Everything you do makes a difference, so take pride in it and give it your best shot. Everything from having the recycling bin in your break room to sponsoring a local beach cleaning effort makes a difference to people, partners, and the planet.
“The best is yet to come.”
– Frank Sinatra.
This is not all there is. You still have so much more to come to you. Never be fooled into thinking the best times in your life have been and gone. As long as you’re alive, there is still time to make more “best moments.”
A New Year is just one new beginning. However, most of these quotes can be an inspiration for any of those times in life when one thing ends, and another begins.
It’s all very well to post inspiring quotes, but sometimes you need pushing to get the message. Don’t just read the quotes and think, “hmm, interesting”, and then completely forget about them. Let them sink in and percolate in your mind. What will 2022 have in store for you, and how can you grow and prosper along the way?