No Pie-In-The-Sky, Just a Glass Onion

Since it’s the end of the year, you might be expecting a “pie-in-the-sky, shoot-for-the-stars” column. Well, surprise! This week I want to talk about cutting your losses. Finding your mojo in a sea of disappointment. While not pie in the sky…this may be just what the doctor ordered to bravely step into 2023.

I was inspired by the Glass Onion, the new movie on Netflix that is both a well spun murder mystery (I’ve watched it twice) and a raw example of the human condition. The characters are all driven by greed, pride, envy and an insatiable need for self-promotion. We learn throughout the course of the movie that while each one is wildly successful, the risks they took to obtain that success are leaving them vulnerable and afraid to cut their losses.

• Raise your hand if you took a personal risk this year and it flopped.

• Show of hands if you jumped off a professional comfort cliff and landed on rocky terrain.

Some of you took risks in 2022 and got burned, am I right? Maybe you quit your job and started your own business, and it tanked.

Or maybe you started a side hustle and it’s costing you more than you expected.

Maybe you accepted that promotion only to find out it was less reward and more work.

Whatever happened, you’re looking at January 1st with a side-eye.

I get it!

I don’t ask questions like this without having some up close and personal experience with this myself. I know what ‘getting it wrong’ feels like. I’ve felt the pressure of walking away from sunk costs. These behind-the-scenes moments are not the ones you feel like sharing on social media. And while we can’t escape the classroom of life, we can learn the lessons. So take heart, brave soul, that silver lining is there.

Here are a few questions to help you find it and restore your optimism for 2023. (Go grab your notebook and pen.)

1. Purge the poison. Let it out. What perceived negative outcomes resulted from this risk-gone-bad? Write it all down. Vent, rant, even cry a little if you need to.

2. Get some perspective. How bad was it, really? Perhaps it cost you in time, energy and money, but maybe you learned something that will be a gamechanger down the road.

3. Flip it. What good came out of this experience? Write down everything that comes to you, big or small. Sometimes the best that comes from a risk-gone-bad is the conviction that you’ll never go down that road again – amen!

4. Shake it up. You’re allowed to break some rules. You can be different, look different and work different…any time you choose. So what’s it gonna be in 2023? List 3 new goals or ways of approaching your life that will have folks sit up and take notice.

5. Close the chapter. As you end the year, cut your losses. Cut the cord on that relationship gone bad (let it go!). Close the chapter on that side hustle that’s bleeding money. Remember, it’s NOBLE to say no to people or things that no longer serve you and WISE to make room for those that do.
   As 2022 takes a bow, don’t slink out the side door, give this year a standing ovation. After all, it’s offered a lot to celebrate and a lot to learn from. So straighten your back, stare it in the face and move on. Fresh starts are one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and there’s no better starting line than a New Year.