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Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!
tl;dr “At some point, the greatest threat to your future success is your attachment to your past success.”
Fall is here, the holiday countdown begins, and with it, everyone’s favorite annual excuse for letting their goals slip away into the new year.
But now is the time to make a decision if you’re going to let it happen again this year. Will you get to new years and join the resolutioners in their short-lived fervor for change? Or will you make up your mind and commit to doing better this time around?
This weekend at my business conference, one of the speakers challenged us saying the success we’ve had that got us to where we are today is not adequate for our growth beyond this stage. And while we should be proud of the work we’ve done and the people we’ve become, we cannot sit on laurels and expect that this same version of us will be capable of more success.
If you want different results going into the new year, you have to expect differently of yourself now. Because you won’t wake up January 1st a new person if you don’t take different actions over the next three months.
I don’t think any of us intentionally go into the end of the year with the plan to wake up new year’s day and say, “What happened to the last three months?” but it happens. Why? Probably because life gets busy, it’s easy to make excuses when the days are shorter and colder, and we’re not surrounded by people eager to change.
So we really are fighting an uphill battle these next few months. But what’s the alternative?
To be in the same place next year upset with the results we didn’t get because of the work we didn’t do?
Humans are incredibly resilient. But there is a general human tendency to coast on old accomplishments. Consider your grandparents who still talk about their good old days or parents who still talk about their greatest successes from 20 years ago. What about the friends who feel like they peaked in college? Each one of these individuals has fought incredibly hard to get to where they are, undoubtedly survived hardships and persisted, but many of them will remain the same person they were during that last moment of success.
There’s nothing objectively wrong with staying the same. But I do think there’s a general sense of discontent in the world because people don’t grow. If you’re religious, there’s something to say about the gifts you were given and were meant to use (and continue using) that may be wasted without continued development. If you’re feeling stuck in life, it may be because you’re hoping the skills you’ve harnessed to get to this place in life will get you to where you want to go next (they won’t).
It’s hard to accept that because that means there’s more work to do. But it’s also reassuring to know that there is more room for adventure, development, and possibilities greater than we could imagine if we are willing to part ways with that past version of ourselves.
We don’t need a funeral for our past selves like we’ll never see them again. But we can honor them, thank them for where they’ve gotten us, and then welcome the possibility of who we can become. There is a future version of us all that awaits (if we’re fortunate enough to continue having more days on this earth). But it won’t come to an outstretched hand asking for more. It will only come if we say goodbye to the parts of ourselves that are holding us back from moving forward.
This has all been very theoretical, so here’s an example:
I have been a people-pleaser for a lot of my life. I think it has brought me a lot of success and has lended to me being an extremely hard worker and team member. But I do think it holds me back from growing as an entrepreneur and business owner. So while I can thank that version of me which has served me and protected me, I am working on growing into a new Shannon who is okay with disappointing people at the expense of upholding my values, growing my business, and creating the life I want.
So what is it for you?
What has helped you get to where you are today but may be preventing you from moving on to that next version of yourself? This may be evident in a list of strengths you would describe of yourself in an interview or an adjective people would use to describe you. Thank that part of yourself because it has gotten you this far in life. Then, consider leaving it behind as we go into the final quarter of the year, so you can start 2027 as the person you have dreamt of becoming.
If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.
This week, my podcast recommendation is from Lewis Howes’ The School of Greatness, “You Win When You Fail, with Jo Koy.”
With that, respond and let me know anything that came up for you while reading this week and what you want out of this final quarter of 2026.
Until next time,
Shannon
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