How do you unlearn the “lessons” your career taught you? Our team recently had the opportunity to participate in a fabulous training exercise created by our resident genius, Jackie. Through our half-day session, Jackie shared tips and tricks to reframe our thinking and provide inspiration for 2017. On top of her brilliant agenda, I found myself trying to justify habits I’ve latched onto over the course of my career. Good or bad, intentional or not, I did things a certain way because that’s how I did them. (Cringe) As we dug in, I tried to explain how I stumbled upon that thinking and stellar anecdotes would bubble up. Gems like, “Well this one time, I asked too many questions, and someone made a face.” And, “This other time, a trainer told me it’s unprofessional to have too much passion in my work.” I would start to explain myself thinking my reasoning was sound and as I’d get about halfway through, I’d realize that first, I sounded insane and second, even I didn’t believe it anymore. Like many of us, I’ve spent my career looking for good advice. Tricks to get ahead. To be more productive. To be taken seriously. To get to the next level. To win. And while it’s great to be open to new ideas, maybe we need to guard ourselves against bad advice just as much. Perhaps those perceived critiques you picked up on in 1998 don’t really apply anymore. Perhaps times have changed or maybe those pieces of wisdom weren’t really that smart to begin with. So as 2017 marches closer, I invite you to let go of those old habits that no longer serve you. Free yourself from past judgments and move into the new year with fresh eyes, curiosity and passion.