I had been thinking about this question for weeks: How can we make 2025 our best year ever? It was not an easy question to answer, mainly because I had so many more follow-up questions: Should every year be better than the previous one? What does “best ever” even mean? Does “better” mean more money, more free time, more happiness? How can I achieve this? What if the previous year was already great, and the bar is already very high? So far, after several weeks of thinking about it, nothing specific had come up.
You might wonder, why was I even asking myself that question? Well, in December 2018, I attended an event in San Diego called Best Year Ever Blueprint (you can read about it here), where I first asked myself that question. The event was the catalyst for many changes in my life, and without exaggeration, I would not be married today, living in Berlin, if it weren’t for that event.
But that was in 2018, and I hadn’t asked myself that question in years, really thought about it and come up with an answer I could work on.
This time, the answer came in a way I was not expecting. This January, I attended a Vipassana Meditation retreat, as I usually do every year. My aim each year is to simply show up, follow the instructions from the instructors, and see what happens. I don’t go in with anything in particular I want to think about, or avoid thinking about. Even though I’ve attended seven retreats already, each one is different, and I never know what will happen during those 12 days at the retreat.
It was a surprise how, during the retreat, the question answered itself, effortlessly. That’s one thing that impresses me about silence: every time, I already have the answer, no matter how difficult the question is. With enough time, the answer will come, if I just take the time to listen.
The answer came in a very detailed way, with specific insights for different areas of my life (such as money, fun, travel, etc). Basically, to make 2025 the best year ever, I could work on various areas of my life, together with my wife, and move toward where we want to go, one step at a time. The most important realization was that each year can always be better than the previous one. Something as simple as losing my temper one less time, or being at peace for one extra day (or even one extra minute), can already make that year better than before. So basically, any improvement matters, and the more I can be at peace with my current life, no matter how small the step, the more I move in the direction I want to go. Like the saying goes: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
I could have spent hours thinking about the question, researching, writing, and analyzing, but instead, by doing nothing, it answered itself in a better and more complete way than I ever could have managed. Who knew doing nothing was better than doing a lot?
So what about you? Is there a question or a decision you’ve been struggling with? Is it possible that you already have the answer, you just haven’t taken the time to listen to it? I would love to hear your thoughts; just reply and let me know.
Until next time,
Angel
P.S. Whenever I tell people about these silent retreats, where I don’t speak for 10 days, the usual response is: “Oh, I can’t do that, that’s too much”. Well, let me leave you with this quote that basically summarizes the experience:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” ― Henry Ford
