Who were you 12 years ago?
What were you up to?
Where were you, and who was around you?
So much can change in our life over time.
Our circumstances, surroundings, the people in our world, what we want, what works for us, how we like to spend our time and energy, what and who we value and appreciate - all can change, evolve, transform.
You are not the same person you were 12 years ago, 7 years ago, 1 year ago - even last month or last week.
And neither are the people around you.
And yet it’s so easy to miss the changes. Unless we stop, take stock, notice and appreciate them.
I recently celebrated a milestone birthday, and it got me thinking back. To the last time one ended with a zero, and before that too.
It’s been eye opening to look back at where I was then from where I am now, and see just how far I’ve come.
In 2012 I was early on in a new career path as a consultant, our kids were small, and it was the summer of the London olympics.
Since then I’ve changed career path again, and so has my husband, our kids are now older teenagers, there have been bereavements, injury and recovery, a last marathon, travel adventures and, of course, a global pandemic. And so much more.
Standing in this picture, holding a child’s ice cream, I could never have imagined the life I have now.
Often we reflect back on a month, a quarter, a year - in December, or for a performance review.
Looking back over a longer timeframe can give us a different sense of scale. At how much has - and can - change.
We can appreciate our journey, and start to expand our sense of what could come next.
Now, when I think ahead to the next 12 years, I can dream about bigger possibilities - because I can see just how much can shift and transform in that time.
We often over-estimate what we can achieve in a short space of time, and under-estimate what we can achieve over a longer time frame.
Taking a longer view can help us get that in perspective.
Who were you 12 years ago?
What can you learn about the journey between then and now?
And how can you use it to imagine what might be possible in the next 12?
Wishing you all a week of appreciating the path here, and what may lie ahead,
