Annual Reflections for an Epic New Year: 4 Questions to Ask Yourself
How to leverage annual reflections to make next year even better that this one.
Today we're talking about the four questions to ask yourself to recap your year to therefore create an epic year following.
In the month of December, I spend a lot of time both myself and with my clients reflecting on how we spent our time, energy and money throughout the year so we can take that information and formulate a plan to have an even better 2017.
So the first question that I like to ask is one that you all have heard of which is what are you most proud of and what made you feel really good yourself in 2016? You might be asking “Are you talking personally or professionally?” and my question back to you is how are they different? If personally you're really proud of using courage to come out of your shell and try new things, how does that not impact both your personal and professional lives simultaneously? If your goal/ intention was to strengthen your communication and your intimacy with your partner, how does that not help you overall feel better which would flow into the workplace?
The second question is in what way did you stretch yourself? You all have heard the saying “If we’re not growing we’re dying” or “If we’re not uncomfortable we’re not trying hard enough” so in what ways did you really push yourself out of your comfort zone? And most importantly, how did you overcome the obstacles attempting to block you from trying that thing? Maybe it was fear or self-doubt or an old tape that you play about how you show up in those situations, but how did you overcome that to go ahead and try it anyways? Those are going to be sources of strength that we want to use to make great things happen moving forward. Perhaps you did a public speaking engagement and you overcame your fear of being in front of a group and how you did that was to talk to your coach, to meditate on it, to practice and prepare, or to just know and trust that you can do it when you get there. Make a note of how you did it! Then, how did it feel to show up and make it happen?
The third question is about what you learned… what was the biggest mistake you made and what did you learn from it? All of the greats in the world will tell you they made more mistakes than they can count before they found their way. But what makes them great is their resiliency and how they came back from those mistakes. They focus on what they learned and how to apply that information going forward. I challenge you to be really honest with yourself, where did you mess up and what can you learn about yourself to become a more authentic version of you?
Please know we all make mistakes!!!! I hope that you’re not sitting in shame or judgment. The first thing I encourage you to do is to release the shame and judgment around making mistakes and the second thing to do is normalize that we all make mistakes and remind yourself that that to be great you MUST make mistakes. The third thing you can do is learn, try something different and use mindfulness to make conscious choices the next time.
The fourth and final question is my favorite…what are you willing to shed from this year to become next year? I use the snake metaphor a lot with my clients but what are you willing to de-clutter in your mind, what are you willing to let go of and release that’s no longer serving you? Perhaps it’s an old tape such as that “I’m not good enough” story. That is definitely a tough one to shed but so worth the work. Maybe it’s a habit or a pattern that you’ve identified that’s no longer serving you well and not helping you get what you want. Maybe it’s a mistake you made and you don’t want to hold onto the guilt and shame of it, you’re ready to release it and let it go!
Here’s the deal guys… if we want to become what it is that we’re trying to become we have to let go of some of these things that we tend to carry with us, and a lot of those things are pretty heavy such as guilt, shame and regret. All of those unpleasant thoughts and feelings don’t really serve us, rather, they weigh us down. Starting today, give yourself permission to let it go. There’s a lot of different ways that you can let it go, you can journal, you can write it down and burn it, you can release it through body movement, or you can work with a counselor or coach, just to name a few.
The point is, if you want to become the very best version of you and you want to create an amazing life, you’re gonna have to let some things go!
These are the four questions that I love to work with clients on when doing their annual reflections to begin to make plans and to clear space for what you are going to create next.
Now, if you need to work with a counselor or a coach to really heal from some of the things that happened this year, or to process some of the things that happened, there’s no judgment in that, and I strongly encourage you to get the resources that you need.
And if you need a partner to help you create the life you’ve always wanted or to manifest your dreams give me a call and book a free discovery call to see what we can work through together.
We only live once and we want to live life to the fullest, so get rid of what’s no longer serving you and believe that you can have all that you want.
