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Where Are You Going From Here?

By November 19, 2018February 12th, 20212 Comments

Every year, the end of the year sneaks up on me. Suddenly it’s Thanksgiving Week as I write this and I’m wondering what happened to all the time I thought I had this fall. Then it’ll be December and before you know it, a new year arrives and I’m still wondering what happened to all that time I was supposed to have at the end of the year. Do you see my torturous cycle?

A few years back, I decided I would look back on my successes and various stumbles in my business and leadership over the past year and see where I might learn a lesson or apply some new thinking. It was a reflection process that taught me not just to think through what I wanted for the future of my consulting business but what had I done with it so far. It also helped me gain some insight as to why I’d lost interest in certain things and where my leadership had shifted course.

Can you give yourself this gift this year? We all know that not a lot of real work gets done between Thanksgiving week and January 2nd, so I encourage you to take a break for yourself and reflect on your business or your leadership in whatever it is you do. Here are some questions to get you started:

End of Year Reflection – Where are you going from here?

Take a hike, a walk, or sit in a comfy spot with a cup of tea or a shot of bourbon – whatever works for you to get into a zone of reflection and craft your next steps.

Think about these questions and give yourself some time to daydream a little. Write down any thoughts or doodle any images, keeping track of what comes up in a notebook.

What was your biggest success in the past 6 months? Past year? Two years? We often don’t celebrate “wins.” Instead, we gloss over them and humbly go about our day. When was the last time you texted a friend or family member and said, “Hey! I just did this really great thing and I feel amazing about it. Just wanted to share with someone! I rock.” Try it.

What was your biggest failure? Celebrate or honor this failure because it’s entirely possible that this thing that failed wasn’t really meant to be anyway.

Who are your cheerleaders? Who can you go to cheer you on when you have a hard day or a great day? Sometimes we need a support team to get us to our next steps and hold us accountable, or to just listen.

What are you afraid of? This is not easy to answer but when you do, you’ll learn a lot about yourself. I discovered my deep fear of becoming irrelevant if I stopped attending conferences as a panelist or keynote speaker. I was burned out on these events, showing up unprepared and not really excited to be there anyway, so why was I wasting my energy, time, and money on attending them? When I recognized that fear, I decided that my work is relevant, I am relevant, and don’t have to stand up in front of 500 people to feel so. I turned that fear into action and started to focus on one-on-one client consulting which I find much more satisfying and impactful.

What does success look like for you? Is it an office full of employees? Is it a remote business where you can work on your laptop from a cabin in the woods? Is it a satisfying workload that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning? Is it leading a new younger generation to their most realized success? What really fires you up in a way that makes your soul sing?

And finally, ask yourself this: what’s it going to take for me to realize my version of success? Chart a course forward. What simple things can you do in the next year to realize your vision of success? Small, doable things can get you started.

What other things can you reflect on and add to these questions? Do it now. Cheers to your future!