I love this time of year because it provides me enough time to reflect on my life over the past year.  And, because of this reflection, it allows me to make changes to better my life for the new year.  I think it is important to reflect because life is an ever changing journey and life situations constantly change.  To put it in community pharmacy terms, it is the equivalent of closing out the register to determine how well the pharmacy did that day.

As a community pharmacist, asking the right questions can help you make the course corrections in your life that will help you get closer to your vision for your life.  These questions may change as your life changes, but there are typically three that I ask myself every year.  Hopefully, these can help you in your journey through life.

The three question are below:

1. What is my gift to this world and how can I positively impact more people with this gift? - I believe that we all have a unique gift for the world and that we should use this to positively impact people's lives.  Understanding what your gift is can help you make a difference for more people.

2. If I were to die this year, what are the three most important things I would want my children or grandchildren know? - this helps me determine what is really important to me.

3. How long could my business run if I couldn't go to work tomorrow? - this helps me measure progress towards my goal of my business being less dependent on me for success.  This can free up my time so I can focus on my unique gift and spending time with the people I value most.

I believe that if you ask these questions and give honest answers to yourself, then you can make positive changes in your lives.  Also, these may not be the questions you need to ask yourself.  Discovering those questions for you may take some time and that is why this time for reflection is extremely important.

From our family at Waypoint, we wish you a very prosperous 2013.