During the time that we have left in 2015, I am going to share three posts that show how I approach the coming New Year. It has helped keep me personally accountable for my own success and pulled me out of many a slumps over the years. I am sharing this for a couple of reasons.
First, I think people can learn from it. Second, I’d like to learn from others, so feel free to suggest ways to enhance the process. And the third reason I want to share it is because it sets the stage for big plans I have in store for 2016. More on that next week though.
I suspect many of you have been looking ahead to 2016. Perhaps you’re thinking about possible New Year’s Resolutions and/or setting goals. That’s great if you are, but don’t worry if you are not quite there yet. That isn’t the first step.
The first step to bridging right now to a vibrant future is reflecting upon your recent past to grow and inspire strong momentum. Photo Credit: JusDaFax via Compfight cc
The First Step to New Year Planning is Reflect
Reflection is important for many reasons. It helps us Benchmark where we are against where we thought we would be and where we want to be. It helps you understand where you have grown and where greater growth should occur. At the same time, reflection time can be empowering because summing up your accomplishments, both big and small, can help you realize how impactful the year has been and thus provide great momentum as you head into steps two and three, which I will share over the next two weeks.
For now, to help you reflect, let’s consider three questions. I’ll share as it pertains to my own refining life. You consider it from your own context.
Accomplishments and Highlights
Depending upon your general nature, this is either an easy or difficult question to answer. For a blogger, it can be pretty simple if you post all the highlights on your blog. If not, or if you need more help remembering, go through your Facebook timeline or journal. Ask others what they think. The important thing is to document it. Get it in writing and don’t put limits on it. Don’t say to yourself, “this wasn’t quite important enough.” Celebrate even small wins. Here’s part of my list:
- 1Glories saw four times the number of visitors in 2015 than it did in 2014.
- I attended The Market Research Event (TMRE) in November. Made 30+ personal connections that will be impactful to my career.
- Endured the hardships accompanied with the loss of my mother and an appendectomy.
- I delivered a sermon at my church on Father’s Day.
- I delivered a Keynote Address for a small reception on the topic of women in baseball.
- I was in a television segment discussing a local Negro League Baseball exhibit.
- My daughter started middle school; all 3 of my daughters had a wonderful dance recital – I was there as their biggest champion.
- I saw a Cubs game from the Wrigley rooftops — that’s one of the #BucketList.
- My daughters and I observed caterpillars go to cocoon and then hatch into butterflies before releasing them.
- My family and I participated in an MDA walk with family and close friends.
- I obtained Chalmers Center Faith & Finances certification.
- Led Bible Studies on Ecclesiastes and Ephesians.
What Did You Learn That Can Propel You into the New Year?
Having documented a few accomplishments and highlights, next consider what you learned from them. Every experience in life brings about lessons. Sometimes those lessons reaffirm things we know. Other times, they teach us or give us a new perspective. In my case, I was able to gain a lot of new experiences while proving I could network at the TMRE conference. I met a lot of folks I never would have had I went to an trade-specific conference rather than one connected to my job function. In similar regard, I proved to myself that I could deliver an insightful message in a church setting and was invited to give a keynote. Public speaking is not something I have sought, but I am gaining comfort and learning how to be more comfortable, prepared and impactful when I do so.
Where Could You Have Done Better Last Year?
Nobody likes to admit their flaws. But honesty is one of the most important qualities for growth. I have my fair share of failures. For instance, when my mother passed, I quickly realized I had not put many contacts into my phone and had a difficult time reaching family members to let them know the unfortunate news. There is a lot that I am doing now to better prepare myself and my family for emergency type situations like that.
Another area I feel like I failed in is time management in general. When I look at the list of things I accomplished, I have to consider the balance of personal achievements and personal ambitions to that is spending more time with my family and encouraging them on. The running line at my house is “dad’s on his computer… like usual.”
Not sure I feel all that great about that line. I’m going to look to 2016 to figure out how to make that line evolve to “dad’s more organized with his time on the computer so he can spend more time with us” by the end of the year.