So, How did you do?

All right, Happy holidays, Cadre sphere. And I'm looking kind of tan. Living in California just ain't too shabby for the holidays. But enough about me. I want to check in. I want to check in for myself, but I want to encourage all of you to check in with yourselves, with your partners, mentor, sponsors, you know, whatever it is, because it's like kind of halfway through the holidays in some ways, we're maybe three quarters of the way. All the pressure that you may have been putting on yourself, all the expectations that you had.

How did you do? That's the question, right? How did you do and how are you doing? How did you do for Christmas? How did you do in your interactions with people? How did you do with interactions with people you don't know? How did you do with interactions with people that maybe even irritated you? Were you able to bring that spirit of the holidays into your interactions? Was I. Let's start there, right? So the check in. I mean, that's the value of these inventories, right? I don't know if you do a daily inventory where you kind of either check in in the morning and.

Or at night. I find the nighttime to be the best because it's kind of like, how did I do? How did I do that day? And then I check in and then I send it, and I send it to a lot of people that I'm accountable to, those people, a lot of guys I sponsor, and then some people I don't. But, like, that's a thing, you know, that's a really important thing. So how did you do? How did you do this holiday? How are you doing if you're in Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, you know, and the new year is coming up? We'll talk.

We're definitely gonna talk about New Year's resolutions, which, for the most part, are not ideal. That's my take, but we'll talk more about that. So how did I do? I'll start by saying that I think I did well, right? So what I talked about this past month is the idea of a new narrative. If I say my mom is high maintenance, then that's who I'm expecting to come through the door when she stays with me. If I say my mom is annoying, irritating, then that's who I'm expecting to see. If I say my mom is a woman who lives by herself in a community of other elderly people who just wants to have time with her family, that's another narrative.

If I say my mom's doing the best she can. If I Say my mom is somebody who is just another human being trying to find her way. What I say about my mom matters. What I say about my spouse matters. What I say about my daughter. What I say about the holidays matters. And I was cognizant of all of those inside narratives, all those old narratives. And I had a great holiday. I've had a great holiday so far. Have I been short with my mom? I have. I have. That's a pattern, unfortunately, that's established long in our relationship.

It used to be really bad. It used to be really bad, and it's not anymore. But I could do better, right? So that's part of my commitment. Just speaking it out loud. It's like, that's my commitment, is to do even better because I've been doing really well. But I can do better. We can always do better. And it's not about shaming ourselves, and it's not about, you know, trying to have to be perfect. But we know, right? You know, when you've just been a little too short with somebody, a little too irritated, when you allow that to get in the way of your interactions versus maybe just venting to a spouse.

How have I done with my spouse? Really well. Really well. Lots of nice togetherness, lots of nice interactions, lots of generosity, lots of love. Has felt really good. How did I do with my daughter again? Awesome. We played some volleyball together. We've had a lot of laughs. A lot of laughs. And, you know, got her some really nice gifts. And one in particular that she really, really, really appreciated and wasn't expecting, which is always fun. So then the question is, how are we going to do going forward?

Let's call this a bit of a midway check. All right, so if it's a midway check, how do I want to do? Where do I. Where can I improve? Where can I do things differently? That's what I encourage you to do. I encourage you to stop in the middle of this holiday and just see how you're doing. Check in with your partner. If you haven't done that, check in with somebody else and just see, like, put it on paper. What have I done? Well, where can I improve? All of that is so valuable is my experience. It's so valuable to take the time to do that.

Me just doing this live stream helps me kind of keep that in perspective. You know, I do my nightly inventory. It's pretty much every night that I do that. I have specific questions I respond to that keeps me accountable, and it keeps me aware of what's going on in my life. So I'm very grateful for that. So my encouragement to you as you go on through the week is just each night, check in with yourself, check in with your partner, have a little check in, have. How do we do? And whatever mistakes you've made up until this point, let them go.

They're done now. Turn it around if you need to. Turn it around. Turn it around if you need to make amends, make amends and have a wonderful rest of the holiday. Try to make it about other people. If you're feeling depressed, if you're feeling sad, allow yourself to feel that and let it go. Give yourself permission to feel it for a little bit, but don't stew in it, don't worship it as if it's something that needs attention. Let it go. That's what I really try to do. And you know, it helps. It helps me give myself a little bit of time, a little bit of permission to feel whatever I'm feeling and then let it go.

So those are my thoughts on this beautiful day, this. This December 28, 2024. So I guess technically, I'll see you. Well, I'll see you in a year.