The month of December is a time for everyone to make some assessment. To pull the strings of what has happened in the previous 12 months, not only on a business level but also on a personal level. My year-end assessment is not a mathematical calculation, but a time for introspection: to go back over all the events to see all the challenges I have interfaced with and draw useful lessons from them to look to the future with new enthusiasm.
The year 2022 was a very tough year for me. I lost a very dear friend to Covid, my 14-year-old cat to a tumor, and my father to cancer. Loved ones that have profoundly affected my existence.
All this happened at a crucial time in my career to which I devoted the last ten years of my life. Years in which the sacrifices cannot be counted.
To be honest, I must say that not giving up was not easy at all. Experiencing several griefs and at the same time having to stay focused on work and goals has been a very big challenge for me. Being the CEO of a growing company like XY is a huge responsibility that I took on and promised to fulfill every day. Even on the toughest days.
Being a CEO can be lonely at the top. Any decision I make today at this stage of growth is do or die. This as we know requires clarity of thought and peace of mind, which was not very easy to get during this year.
My experience of loss, however, has also made me feel a very strong feeling, which is that of gratitude. Gratitude toward myself for never giving up but also toward all those people who stood by me and supported me every day in this tortuous journey that was 2022. My gratitude also, I felt it very strong and deep, towards the loves I lost, for what they gave me while they were alive and for the lessons, which I will try to treasure throughout my life.
Finally, my gratitude definitely goes to life. To be alive and healthy after these years of pandemic and hardship should be experienced as a tremendous gift and great good fortune.
For that very reason, the biggest wish I make to everyone for this Christmas and these holidays in general is to celebrate the people we have around us and honor the people we have lost, living what we have to the fullest, with a trustful glance toward the future!