Happy new year everyone!
It’s a great time of year to reflect on past experiences and work on actionable future goals. Here is my 2019 in review:
Highlights:
1. Continuing to work with coaching clients on a one-on-one basis.
I especially appreciate being able to hone my ability to listen and to ask open-ended questions which not only helps facilitate a good coaching experience for the client, it also helps me immensely in other aspects of my personal and professional life.
2. Going on a 10 day trip to Turkey in May. I fell in love with mystical Istanbul and had wonderful adventures throughout the country with my G Adventures group and good friend Christine.
I am ever so grateful to my husband and son for supporting my independent travel and for my clinic partner Kristine for holding down the clinic fort so that I can enjoy this passion without worrying about my work responsibilities.
3. Hosting my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday party at my cottage in early December. There were 25 people spread over cottages (mine and two other rented ones on the same property) for the 3 day celebration.
I learned that I am less likely to get overwhelmed by large social gatherings if I feel comfortable in my environment and can plan out the itinerary so that it’s in alignment with my energetic needs. I also learned that I can cook eggs and bacon for 25 people pretty easily!
4. Seeing the growth of our acting school (of which I am the Administrative Director). My husband and I added a new teacher in March. Shaun started observing classes in January, which was a great way to introduce him to current students and to get his name out there. Shaun continued to participate in John’s classes even when he started teaching his own classes in March and in September we created a class where John + Shaun both co-taught. This allowed for students to get the opportunity to be taught by two teachers, which is a unique experience not usually found in professional acting schools.
It reinforced the importance of being patient with on-boarding a new team member as well as the importance of team work and collaboration in our business.
5. Learning to accept all the physical changes which come with being a 46 year old woman (soon to be turning 47 next week!).
I was happy with my ability to carry a 35 lb backpack + physical stamina for a strenuous 3 day hike near Jasper, Alberta this summer. I was less enamoured to discover increased soreness in my feet post-hike compared to previous years. In December I sprained my back working out with weights and the healing time was more than double the usual (close to 4 weeks). These physical ailments forced me to confront age-related changes to healing and have made me more empathetic to my patients’ frustrations with pain. I need to remember that the other side of the aging coin is all the amazing wisdom gained through experience and to try to be more compassionate with myself in 2020.
[originally published January 2020]
Dr. Cynthia Chan 