Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. ~Peter Drucker
With weeks to go until 2018, I find myself, as always, in a period of transition. With one foot still planted firmly in 2017, working hard to finish up projects and end the year strong, I also have another foot digging roots on the other side, planning and preparing for what’s to come in 2018.
I am straddling the line between what has been and what will be.
My preference is to swing the first leg over, say goodbye to 2017 and put all my energy into 2018 with gusto and renewed commitment.
But I’ve done this long enough to know that there are lessons to learn, and insights to glean from this past year – good and bad – that will help inform what I make happen in 2018.
That doesn’t mean I stay stuck in the past or dwell in what could have been, but rather that I allocate a small space of quiet time to look back and identify key decisions I made (or didn’t make), what worked and what didn’t, and how I felt over the course of the year so that I can go into 2018 with my eyes wide open.
This whole process doesn’t take me more than 30-60 minutes, and yet the time I spend here does wonder for my clarity and sense of focus. It allows me to pay reverence to this work that has supported me for almost 10 years and helps me get more intentional about what I want to create in the year ahead.
I hope you take this time to reflect too.
And even more importantly, to celebrate all the wins, big and small, that you’ve achieved over this past year. It can be so easy to brush them off, as we ready ourselves for the next bigger and better thing, but celebration matters.
In today’s episode of the Beyond PRO Podcast, as I celebrate our 50th episode, I talk about why celebrating is so important and I take you through a series of questions designed to get you to mine for the wins so you can look back on this past year with pride and confidence.
And please remember, if 2017 wasn’t the stellar year you’d hoped for that doesn’t mean that 2018 is destined for the same fate. You have the capacity to make new choices and better decisions (especially if you first assess).
Give yourself the gift of 30 minutes of reflection before the clock strikes midnight welcoming in 2018. Celebrate and toast your wins (both big and small) and let go of the disappointments and didn’t-quite-work-out-as-planned efforts.
You did the best you could with what you had.
Use the wisdom you gain from this exercise to plan for the year ahead, trusting that you’ll show up more bravely, with greater clarity of purpose and fully ready to make your big goals a reality.
Enjoy the episode!
Recommended Resources:
Contact me about the Podcast Like a PRO beta program beginning Dec 7
Sign up to receive my weekly Leadership Letters
My PRO Plan – Module #1: ASSESS (use the password: planforsuccess)
My PRO Plan – a comprehensive planning program
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