PGG Year in Review
Looking back before looking forward in 2022
Aaaannd that’s a wrap! As we say good-bye to 2021 and welcome 2022, it seems for most of us time has become a bizarre concept … The past two years have morphed into one, and I think back to last March and it feels like a decade ago! Who knows? My calendar says it’s January 1, so here we are.
Our culture likes to celebrate the blank slate of a new Gregorian year. I think there are other, more powerful energetic markers for this exercise, but this day is widely accepted on the planet, so as a collective we do give it some “juice” and can use it as one of many opportunities for new beginnings.
Traditionally the emphasis is on looking to the future and what we want to create over the coming 12 months: How we want to be, what goals we want to reach, what our “word of the year” is, etc., but I find that folks rarely take time to review what has transpired. Especially when days are flying by the way they have been, with so much happening in such a condensed way, it’s easy not to realize or even remember what you’ve done or accomplished or how you’ve grown and changed these past 12 months.
Skipping this step is not optional if you want to genuinely commit to your personal growth. It’s a necessary part of getting your bearings and making sure you integrate all you’ve experienced since last December — and then form your new plan from a more grounded state of awareness.
So before you write down your New Year’s goals, resolutions or intentions, go back through your journals and calendars/datebooks, photo folder on your phone — any way that you can go month by month to jog your memory: How did you use your time and energy in 2021? What new experiences did you have? Whom did you meet, let go of or lose? What did you heal? What challenges did you overcome? What did you create?
And remember that the internal stuff (mental, emotional, spiritual) can be just as important, maybe more so, as anything that has manifested in your external world — and the only person that needs to know what you’ve moved through is YOU, so celebrate yourself! (BTW, I think you can take the whole month of January to do this if it’s too much to handle right now — remember we have a Lunar New Year coming up Feb 1 ;) GO EASY ON YOURSELF and trust that you did the best you could.
This is a good time to work on it (and yes, it is a bit of work!) if you haven’t already done so. And of course, for a little inspiration and self-reflection, you might revisit some of the essays below.
I hope they all help you think a little differently and offer some positive and productive perspectives about what we are going through individually and collectively during these challenging times.
Also, a reminder that my PGG book with the first five years of essays is finally up in a digital format, which means you can read the PDF of Personal Growth Gab — The BOOK on a variety of digital devices that you can purchase on Amazon here. (Read the IG post about it here).
Wherever you read my words, they can help set you up for a thoughtful, positive mindset for 2022 :) All of the essays are 3- to 6-minute reads (or listens on this platform; Medium now has that option) and are meant to shift your perspective and/or provide some inspiration, hope and motivation to help you along on this journey called life. Enjoy!
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Power Puff
At this massively transformative time in the history of humanity, we must begin to know who we are more deeply, understand and own our intrinsic power, and become familiar with our innate wisdom and what is meaningful, valuable and true for us — especially when so many forces at play would have us do otherwise.
Click here to read or listen to essay in full
Lilies, Loops & Lies
I realized that when this happens, it’s like a switch is turned on that puts me into a very particular loop that keeps going round and round. And because it’s a loop with well-worn grooves, it’s hard to get out of and you feel like it’s reality. But it’s NOT.
Click here to read or listen to essay in full
PGG “Notes from Kristina”:
(Click on title to read or listen to article on Medium)
Help bridge the divide in our country by bridging it within yourself.
Taking things one day at a time will save you miles.
Trust that you will land exactly when and where you are supposed to.
Prioritizing the pioneering of inner peace versus off-planet populating.
Back to School/Back to Ourselves
September is a great time to self-reflect on your grade in this School of Life.
Slow down and tame your tasks with less stress.
Make better use of the gift we all have in order to improve our lives.
Navigating relationships of all kinds during these challenging times.
How accepting death in your life can bring the gift of growth.
Acknowledging the value of that which is priceless and timeless.
Additional Essays:
(Click on title to read or listen to article on Medium.)
The Women’s Mosaic Turns Twenty
Two decades later, the quest continues to Recognize Our Unity and Celebrate Our Diversity, no matter what form it takes.
Reflections on that fateful day in NYC, and remembering the unity it inspired.
The uncanny timing of a dictator’s death foreshadows times to come.
A sad and urgent wake-up call for our times.
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Get essays like this delivered every Friday to your mailbox (with an introductory note about current events) as my PGG newsletter by texting CLEARLYKRISTINA to 22828 to join my mailing list.
Click here to learn more about Kristina Leonardi coaching and other services.
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Kristina Leonardi is a nationally recognized career and life coach, speaker and author who for over 14 years has empowered individuals to make lasting professional and personal changes aligned with their true passions and talents while fulfilling their role in the world at large.With a holistic and personal growth-oriented approach, she has helped hundreds of men and women over the past decade improve their job performance, enter or re-enter the job force, change careers, better manage their time and stress, and live happier, more meaningful, balanced lives. Her specialty is working with people who feel stuck or are in transition and can help you clarify exactly what you want to do, identify blocks, issues, and patterns in your way, and offer proven ideas, resources, and action steps to get you there.
Click here for info about Kristina’s coaching and speaking services
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Check out my book Personal Growth Gab:Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One: Thought-provoking, inspirational and entertaining essays to keep you connected to yourself and make sense of this journey called Life on Amazon
If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!
Click here for info about my coaching and speaking services
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Read more about me and my work in these past PGG’s:
All Roads, Same Place | And Now, A Word from Our Sponsor | Strong Medicine | 10,000 Hours | A Decade of Doing What I Do | Express Yourself
