Unleashing your best: Five questions to achieve your best self in 2023.

Can you believe it is 2023 already? My mom and I were just talking about Thanksgiving turkey versus ham and what side dishes she'd make. I am still raving about the car I rented to drive up to her house.

Well, it's 2023.

"Hey Siri, restart winter vacation." She never listens to me.

Ready or not, with the onset of the New Year, I need to take a quick review of how I did on my 2022 goals and how they fit into the new ones for 2023. Right off the bat, I have several goals from last year that I am re-examining and bringing forward in some shape this year.

I've found that the only true way to assess where you are compared to where you're going is to ask difficult questions. Arriving at the answers to these questions may be uncomfortable and take time, but once you find them and implement them into your life, things should start falling into place.

Here is my take on five thought-provoking questions for you to unlock your best 2023 self:

What's my most significant milestone so far?

This question is crucial because it's a great way to look back and reflect on where you are currently. It's also an excellent prompt for thinking about your future you, too. Perhaps your most significant milestone so far was finishing your degree or paying off credit card debt! Or, maybe you've started to read more. It doesn't matter how big or small your goals and accomplishments are; all that matters is that you took that step and made a measurable gain.

Congratulations! Use that feeling and progress as inspiration for achieving more in the future.

What strength did I identify this year?

It's worth taking a moment to reflect on what you've learned about yourself. Undoubetdly, you've faced some challenges and setbacks. These challenges helped you to level-up and build on new skills.

Your strengths and weaknesses can be broken down into three categories:

• Strengths you already have

• Strengths you want to develop

• Strengths that will help push your career forward in the new year.

Do I have the right support system?

A support system can be a huge asset to your success, and it's even more critical as you age. As you get more established in your career and life, it's easy to feel like you've got it all figured out—but that doesn't mean you won't encounter challenges. If you have a support system and call on it when necessary, those challenges will seem much less daunting than they might have otherwise been.

A sound support system can help with things like:

• Feeling less stressed out by difficult situations at work or home

• Knowing when and where to seek advice on personal matters (for example, if something goes wrong at work)

• Having someone else on which whose opinions matter and who will give them without any pressure involved
  

Am I moving forward or standing still?

The best way to move forward is by being aware of the things holding you back.

Ask yourself:

• What do you want? What would your ideal life look like?

• How much money do you need to make that dream a reality? Remember, there are other cost factors, such as time constraints or interpersonal commitments which could impact your progress.

• What are you taking off your plate to help achieve where you want to be?

What habit would you like to leave in 2022?

Habits are hard to break. You can start trying to change a habit, but if you don't know your next move or have the right support system, it might be more challenging than you thought it would be. Once you've identified that bad habit, write it on a sticky note and place it somewhere that will help you hold yourself accountable.

What's next?

Now that you have some questions to ask yourself, what do you do with them? Well, the hope is that these answers will help you identify your 2022 progress and learning experiences and build on them into 2023's new growth and reality.

So, what's next for you?