Before goals, pause and honour your journey
It’s that time of the season when life slowly comes to a pause and people return to themselves, leaving their external businesses outside the door. Resolutions, reflections, goal-setting and a smattering of philosophy take centre stage, and a fresh blueprint for life ahead is chalked out. The first week of the New Year is filled with renewed optimism about the times that would ensue and the leaps we would make in the next twelve months.
As the year was drawing to a close, an acquaintance on LinkedIn posed a question — ‘What goals and lessons are you planning to bring into 2026? Let’s inspire each other with our answers.’ I sat with the question for a bit, and confessed that I was not setting any concrete goals as of now. I was merely going to take stock — of how far I have come from what I was, and what corners I have turned to get to this point of success. I was going to defy the phrase ‘no looking back’ and seriously look at my past to acknowledge the distance I have stridden, the milestones I have reached, and the footprints I have left on those whose lives I have touched.
Self-acknowledgement: is that something we have forgotten to put on our to-do list in our hurry to be proactive and future-ready? If yes, it is the first thing we must do - not just on the occasion of a new Gregorian year, but periodically. Every once in a while, we must ask ourselves: Where am I today? How did I get this far? — and then turn that thought over in the mind. Count every small win and compliment ourselves for the effort we took to make that victory possible. No accomplishment, big or small, could have arrived
without putting ourselves out there; without exposing ourselves to risks; without taking chances; without being resilient; without self-belief; without falling and faltering; without learning.
It is only when we allow ourselves this quiet contemplation about our own past that we realise we are more worthy than we give ourselves credit for. That’s when gratitude and fulfilment gush into our life, shifting our understanding of what success truly means. Currently, we define ourselves more by how we are perceived by the world than by self-estimation — a huge disservice to our talent, perseverance, endeavours, and triumphs.
Of course, planning and setting goals give us direction, but the courage to expand our horizons comes from recognising how steadfast we have been. We may not have come as far as we aspired, but staying stuck in cynicism and self-doubt can only hold us back. What propels us forward is self-recognition — not grandstanding — but an intimate acceptance of who and what we are today, by dint of hard slog.
We have all been through the harsh winters and sultry summers of life. We have hung in there. We have driven on the roughest roads, and we have arrived here — and for this, we all deserve congratulations.
Internally, many of us still critique ourselves for not having done better or reached that elusive point of success. This habit of focusing on what was not attained keeps us in despair. We may have miles to go before we sleep, but while we are awake, let us pat ourselves on the back for making a difference — to our lives and to others - with our resolve and resilience. We are our own heroes with inspiring backstories — and nothing should take away from that truth.
The writer is a Dubai-based author, columnist, independent journalist and children’s writing coach; views are personal
