cakeThis weekend was my birthday, not anything special, but a birthday nonetheless. Each year at this time a few things happen that have been designed to allow me to reflect and pause a while in response to the year that has gone by:

I get an email from the FutureMe app. This email is from myself, written a year ago to my future self, now, the present day self. I have been doing this for 8 years now and each year it is a difficult email to read. I am never easy on myself and set huge expectations for my personal self, relationship and business goals. The email normally outlines the expectations and dreams I had for the year as well as giving hope and encouragement. But listening to yourself from a year ago is a strange and unnerving experience.

I then get to write another email, this time to the future self 12 months from now. How difficult it is to predict the future and hope for certain achievements and goals. We do not know where we will be unless we set our sites on the future and aim high. But this year seems just that little harder than before. There is so many uncertainty issues that hold the cards to my future, personally, in relationships and in business. I am also very focused on some health issues. So what does one say to the future?

I also get to celebrate this day with friends and family in the now. Time spent chatting, celebrating and living in the moment. The best time we have as we cannot begin to change the past or predict the future, we can only enjoy the moment we are in now.

Some interesting leadership themes here that I will allow you to unpack and marinate in your own time as I do. I can only trust that the future will be and that the present is and all that I do will be sufficient for both.