“Wow, I forgot about that.”
I recently offered a busy client a simple end of year reflection exercise. After he did it, the quote above was his revelation. The exercise below is actually a tool of encouragement, to help folks remember successes and embed the learning of their experiences that year. Highlights are easy to remember, but there are other moments and efforts that too often get lost because we have not built up the habit of reflection.
As they resisted the temptation to tackle their year-end task list, they stopped long enough to recall all the best parts of their Year. They were rejuvenated, refocused and relieved to know that in all the activity, they had achieved some pretty amazing progress and relevance that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
As a tribute before year-end to my own raison d’etre (or ikigai ) -- to encourage others – here is a reflection guide as you ponder through the countdown to the New Year ahead, and get inspired toward your own ikigai.
NB: Be sure to set up some reflection time: Pick 30 minutes, a favorite alone-spot, a yummy elixir, and your best smooth-glide writing tool, all for maximum impact!
Q1 – How did you STEP OUT this year?
How did you do something courageous or out of the ordinary... how did you step out in faith, take a risk?
(I actually ended up with far more items this year in one Reflection sitting than I had originally expected…13 to be exact! When I looked deeper, there was a reaffirming pattern of career growth that had emerged over the year, as well as a cord of spiritual growth that was above and beyond what I had planned. I even recalled how I'd “stepped out” in parenting our two teenage daughters.)
Q2 – Who were you intentional with this year?
Who were the people who benefited from your wisdom, your kindness, your guidance, your care, people you specifically had on your radar?
Q3 – How did you create more margin in your life?
What efforts did you attempt to get a better handle on interruptions and unexpected demands? Or to create regular intervals of time in your day/week for the non-urgent but important things (building relationships, creative outlets, goal monitoring, project evaluation, networking, mentorship, date nights, etc.)?
Q4 – What words would you use to describe your mindset about your life in general this past year?
Q5 – Pick five favorite people from different parts of your life. How would THEY describe your attitude and behavior this past year?
Q5a – Is there a discrepancy to ponder (between answers to 4 and 5)?
Q6 – If you were to give 20xx a theme or a name, what would it be (20xx was the year of ______)?
Question 7 comes from one of my favourite thinkers/communicators Daniel Pink. In his book, DRIVE, he talks about the three intrinsic motivators of practically all humans at work: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Autonomy = Am I trusted to get things done?
Mastery = Am I getting better? learning? growing?
Purpose = Is my work/life making a difference? Are we creating something together to make the world better?
So Q7 is about what motivated you this year….
Q7a - What areas of my life/work did I gain new autonomy? Or a new level of authority?
Q7b - What areas of my life/work did I grow/improve?
Q7c - How did I collaborate with others on something this year? What did we make a little better for the world around us? What was a little contribution I made?
Enjoy the perspective and motivation this gives you for the year ahead. Know your story -- you've done great things! Happy New Year, everyone.