A leave behind list is something I usually start over Thanksgiving weekend. It includes all the things I would like to leave behind at the end of the year so I can start the next one with a clean slate. I’ve included everything on my past lists from bad behaviors (eating after 8 pm), to ineffective financial policies (not requesting payment in advance for certain types of work), to certain types of relationships. Some of my past leave behinds can be found in this blog post from 2008, and a few recent examples include:
-Loyalty to certain rewards programs. (So long American Express cards!
-Engaging in email or status update one-upmanship.
-TweetDeck and its tendency to activate the latent ADD in me. (I prefer HootSuite.)
-Trying to befriend people that have no interest in friendship and only want to “leverage” their belief that they “know” me. (“Oh, I know Sandy! We’re even connected on LinkedIn.”)
I’m thinking long and hard about this year’s “What I Don’t Want to See Again in 2010” list, and thanks to what I’ll just call a fairly weird year, I think it is best to keep this one to myself. 😉
When New Year’s Eve rolls around, I’ll take the list and either burn it in a fireplace or bonfire or bury it at the beach. Or, if you don’t have access to anything organic, just flush it down a toilet and say goodbye and good riddance to those things on the list. It always feels great once it’s gone from view and I highly recommend this exercise as a holiday tradition to start this year.
And, on the flip side, it’s also fun to start a “What I Want To Attract” (or what I’m calling my “What Would Be Heaven in 2011”) list for the New Year, but be sure to keep that one somewhere handy or visible. I either hang it on the refrigerator or keep it as a note in my wallet or on my desktop so it’s always somewhere to remind me of what I want more of in the new year.
Happy Holidays!
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