What Can Baking a Pie Teach You?

We're just a few weeks away from the New Year, and I want to encourage you all to begin to reflect on the year that's now ending and start to think about the one ahead.

This week I want to focus on reflection; next week, we will delve into the importance of forward planning. 

Writing this, I realize that reflection and planning are both essential for taking control of our lives, ensuring that we continually improve, live better and do not become stagnant. 

Let’s consider a practical example to illustrate why all of this is so important.

Suppose you're at home, baking a pie that doesn't turn out as you had hoped. You have two options: eat it, be satisfied with how it turned out (even though it wasn’t that great) and forget about it, likely yielding the same result the next time you enter the kitchen. 

Or, alternatively, you can choose a second option: reflect on what might have gone wrong—perhaps review the recipe; reconsider the steps you took; and evaluate whether you missed a crucial ingredient, added too much of something, or perhaps followed a recipe that was flawed from the beginning. 

Based on this "evaluation," you can then make the appropriate decisions to adjust your approach next time. Perhaps you'll realize you need to be more focused, measure ingredients more carefully, choose different equipment, or even change the recipe altogether.

Just as we might analyze and adjust our approach to baking a pie, we need to apply the same principles of reflection and evaluation to our lives. By taking the time to reflect on what worked well and what didn't, we can use these lessons to enhance our lives and become better versions of ourselves.

I therefore encourage you to take a step back as you consider everything the year of 2024 was (and wasn’t) and ask yourself these questions: 

• When you think back on 2024, what feelings arise? Joy? Pride? Disappointment?

• What happened to spark this feeling? Was it something you did (or didn't do) or something that happened to you?

• What specific changes or additions in your personal or professional life would bring you closer to the feelings you wish to cultivate next year?

Reflect not only on what has been but also on what can be. Envision the future you desire, envision WHO you want to be to yourself and to others and start setting the foundations to build it. 

Your reflections today can transform into your realities tomorrow.