Close the Books: On Learning, Letting Go and Lighting Up

At the end of every year, business owners and accountants do something we might want to consider also doing in our personal lives.

They "close the books."

What does that mean? They look back over everything that's happened in the last 12 months, make sure it's as accurate as possible, understand what went into each debit and credit, then ask what makes sense to continue in the year to come, what makes sense to end and what makes sense to change.

They look for any areas where the numbers don't seem to match up, where there's some kind of aberration or question or anomaly and try to figure out what actually happened. They reconcile the numbers and, if they can't, they place a note explaining why.

Then, when they've learned what they can learn, fixed what they can fix, explained what they need to explain, they close the books. They let it all go and turn their energy to the next 12-month window, opening a new book and penning the first entry.

So, here's my question...

What if we did this not just in our financial lives, but in our personal lives, too?

What if, at the end of every year, we created a deliberate process of:

• Learning
• Reconciling
• Letting go, and
• Refocusing

How might that allow us to step into the coming year not snuffed out and battle-scarred, but lit up and filled with possibility?

That's what this week's Good Life Project Riff is all about.

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