The holidays are one of my favorite times of the year. There are a wide variety of reasons for this, but one of best parts for me personally is time given over to reflection. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Year's celebrations, there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting quietly and thinking about life in general. Most of the time there are no great revelations, just me simply taking time to reflect and recharge. But this season one theme has been nagging at me a bit more than usual.

It's the notion of undoing, unlearning, and tearing down. I am talking about stripping away the artifice and looking at what is residing underneath. Like an artful restoration of a golf course which strips away years of build up to reveal the original beauty that was always there, our lives have the same habit of piling on the layers of things that may not be that helpful to our well being.

Only when we step back and look at the layers that have been created, can we begin to evaluate how helpful  or detrimental they are. Taking the time to honestly reflect on things like habits, strongly held beliefs, or even hallowed traditions, can shed new light and perspective on what is important to us at this stage in our lives. Things that may have suited at one time, may be unknowingly be holding us back from much needed growth.

If I had one challenge for us all going forward this year, it is to unlearn something. Take some time to yourself and reflect on a belief which you hold to be true. Dissect the idea carefully and honestly evaluate whether it still holds up in your current life. Look at this notion from a completely different viewpoint and stay with it. This is not to say that you necessarily have to throw out that baby with the bathwater and discard the belief all together, just stay with the reflection long enough to give it the attention it deserves.

The idea behind this exercise is to make one uncomfortable. When we are destabilized, we grow. When the ground under our feet is a bit less concrete, we tend to see past the noise and get down to the heart of the matter.  If we can take the time to be a bit less certain, it can in turn open our minds and hearts to more of the world around us.

Too often in this day and age, our society spends a great amount of personal capital on the need to be right. We cling so strongly to our beliefs and inclinations that we become sealed off and stumble forward with blinders firmly affixed. Rigidity, absolutes, and intolerance become common place, and the pain of division follows.

So as we reflect on the year that was and settle into the idea of what might be, take a moment and make it a point to unlearn something.  It may sound odd, but dropping some personal baggage could be the most important professional development decision that you make in 2016.