How to Forget About 2014

For me, 2014 was one of the greatest years of my life. I got married just after Thanksgiving in 2013, so the new year started with a wife, a new city, and a new home. It was an incredible time and it felt very much like I was starting life over.

Betsy would tell you that her favorite part of last year wasn’t the wedding or the new city or the house or any of it. She’d say it was about three months in when she realized the other shoe wasn’t going to drop. Life, indeed, could be enjoyable and fun.

For me, it wasn’t always that way, though.

It’s hard to believe that just a couple years before Betsy and I got married, life was a complete mess. I remember not-so-fondly coming to the end of 2011 and being grateful the year was over. I’d lost almost everything in an insecure financial investment, was alone, confused, and behind a deadline on a book.

Some years are better than others.

I’m writing to let you know if you had a bad year, things can and likely will get better. Much better.

Not long ago I interviewed the owners of Canlis Restaurant, a fine-dining restaurant on the west coast. The restaurant has won 17 consecutive Grand Awards from Wine Spectator Magazine and is considered one of the best restaurants in America. The owners are brothers, Mark and Brian Canlis, and the third generation in their family to run the restaurant.

And they’re continuing a legacy.

Canlis has been at the top of the fine-dining scene for 64 years.

When I asked what the secret was, the answer they gave that caught my interest most was “change.” They said they knew how and when to change. Mark and Brian said life should be viewed similarly to how we look through the windshield of a car. They said the windshield is much larger than the rearview mirror.

Photo Credit: Mikaela Hamilton

People who spend too much time looking back at their failures tend to repeat them. Mark and Brian’s advice was this:

Keep looking forward.

Know where you’re going and steer the car toward something new and exciting. And you can’t do that if you’re always looking in the rear-view mirror.

As I’ve already mentioned, next week I’m going to post a blog series called Start Life Over. The series will start this coming Monday and reflect on 5 things every person needs to know if they want to start their lives again.

We all get tons of advice this time of year. But this isn’t advice. These are the 5 paradigm shifts I’ve encountered that have changed the way I’ve viewed my life. I’ve never shared them before. At least not in one place.

Read the blog each day, will you? We’re growing the Storyline family by inviting more and more people to completely change their story and live out of their strengths and passions. We want you to come with us.

If you don’t think you’ll remember come Monday morning, I’m offering the entire series as a free PDF right now. The whole series. Download it and pass it around. Let’s explore these ideas together.

If you want more help planning an incredible year, I’m offering a close-out sale on my online course Creating Your Life Plan.

On January 13th, that course goes away.

You won’t be able to get it again so this is your last chance to plan a better life using this resource. The price is an all-time low of $39.95. If you’ve not taken the course, now’s a great time to start. People have loved it.

We hope you enjoy the Start Life Over series. If you’d like to read it all at once, here’s the PDF now. To get the deal on the life plan, click here.

Can’t wait for 2015! See you back on Monday.

How to Forget About 2014 is a post from: Storyline Blog