Closing out the year gives us a great opportunity to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of how things went for our professional and personal lives. I always like to start with the good as it empowers me to feel a sense of accomplishment and growth.
Here are some of my Good:
- Designed and presented Leadership programs that made a difference in leaders’ lives
- Became a more consistent blogger as I committed to weekly writing
- Spoke at several conferences, meeting more extraordinary leaders
- Learned many new social media strategies
- Best of all- met talented and devoted leaders through my social media interactions
Here are some of my Bad or Areas To Learn More:
- Missed out on some incredible conferences
- Would have liked to have met face to face with more of my online friends
- Focused my workshop topics in areas I am well versed instead of some new possibilities.
Here are some of my Ugly or Missteps:
- Read far less fiction than usual which has always been a great escape
- Didn’t do enough marketing or reaching out to potential clients
- Not enough time to travel and have adventures
Looking at all of my lists, I need to think of what I want to focus on in 2015 to turn the bad and the ugly into good so that I can replenish my leadership and fuel my soul.
[Tweet “To replenish our leadership we need to be honest how our year went.”]
So now it is time for each of you to think about your year- the good, the bad and the ugly. These questions might help you look within your leadership for honest introspection:
- What am I most proud of completing this year?
- What new things did I learn about myself and my leadership?
- Who did I connect with this year that positively impacted my career or personal life?
- Where or with whom did I make a difference?
- How did I disappoint myself or others?
- Who didn’t I get an opportunity to meet that would have been meaningful to me?
- What new thing did I want to learn that got away from me?
- What is the biggest mistake I made and can I reverse it?
Write out your responses to any of these questions and see where it takes you. Hopefully this can be a beginning of what you might want to focus on in 2015 to replenish your leadership and fuel your soul.
[Tweet “At year end, take stock of your accomplishments and missteps.”]
How do you revisit your annual goals and challenges? What techniques help you focus for the coming year?
Timing is great on this one. I was just thinking to myself this morning that I needed to make such a list. It’s easy to only focus on what we didn’t get done… a balanced list is so important.
Knowing our accomplishments and looking at them first can be so uplifting and set the tone of what we want to focus on in the coming year. Sometimes just a take-off of one of our last year’s goals can point us in a profound direction.
Thanks Karin and I know you had an amazing growth year in 2014!
Appreciate your honesty in your look back this year and where you need to replenish in the year to come! I too have been going through a similar process and love that questions are the perfect place to start. Smart questions help us avoid the ugly (even when it’s super tempting) and make new choices moving forward.
I’m not one to journal but am motivated to go grab a piece of paper and use your structure (good, bad and ugly) to take a look at where I need to make some important shifts in my life, leadership and business.
Thanks, Terri!
I guess I was honest and I hope it helps others see the possible outcomes from being truthful with ourselves.
I too don’t love journaling but jotting down both my areas of growth and where I fell short is always a great way for me to embrace what is going on for me. It helps me to see where I’ve been and where I need to push ahead further.
Thanks Alli and good luck with the good, the bad and the ugly process!
Terri,
Reflection, awareness, and change are traits that make leaders better in how they do what they do. Key questions to answer as we begin a new year ahead. Thank you for setting the stage and for all you have done through the past year. All the best to you in your new year ahead!
Jon
I think questions do help us stay focused in understanding where our leadership needs to grow and where we have honestly nailed it.
I chose these simple questions because they helped me see my achievements fairly easily as well as the arenas I want to pursue in 2015.
Thanks Jon and I wish you a fulfilling year ahead!
This is a great list of questions, Terri!
It’s important to take the time to reflect on what went right, and what didn’t go right, over the past year. If we don’t, we risk making the same mistakes next year…and we fail to give ourselves credit for what did accomplish.
I think it’s harder to pinpoint those small victories than it is those small defeats…our mind often won’t let the negative go without a fight…your list is spot-on advice for leaders!
That’s a great point LaRae that our minds tend to veer towards the things that didn’t go well for us over the past year. I think we are the toughest critics when we take stock in our careers. That’s why I force myself to begin with what went well because it puts me into a positive state of mind and allows me to feel my accomplishments from all the hard work.
Thanks LaRae for all your support!
Valuable insights Terri!
The good, the bad, and the ugly. I love that. (Was there a movie by the same title? haha) And for each of us, we can find something to fit in each one!
I’m currently working through a ‘quest’ for a new vision for 2015. However, I still need to set aside some time this month to really take a look at 2014. We faced some big whoppers again this year with some major dental issues for me, my mom’s cancer, and then the unexpected suicide of my next door neighbor/relative.
So this was an almost constant reminder for the brevity of life, how fleeting it is, and how it’s important to not take our life or our health for granted.
A large part of my time was still spent on assisting my youngest daughter (15) over some hurdles as a young teenager and having to grow up without her dad. Things went better this year than they did the year before yet there’s still more ‘work’ to be done in terms of loving, learning, trying to understand what she needs during these last few years in high school to help prepare her for the world. + abandonment issues, etc. (she was with her dad when he collapsed and she was only 5 so the memories for her of that event are still very vivid)
I’m happy that I didn’t completely throw in the towel on my writing and posting. I was willing to venture into new territory and consider a possible new business venture. At first blush it seemed right for me. After the suicide, I knew it wasn’t right for me. So I put it off.
After losing my resume in a computer crash before we had backups, I recently wrote a brand new one! FINALLY!
Ton of other things I can list but I’ll save that for when I set aside some time to do this in private.
Thanks so much for sharing a piece of your life with us and for giving us this perspective to help us look back at our own lives over the past year.
It has been a very busy year for you Samantha and one which you did a lot of soul searching. I appreciate you sharing this with us.
Our families go through so many ups and downs and we ride the waves alongside of each member when we care as much as you do. In the coming year, I hope you can steer yourself into the direction you most want to pursue and find contentment.
I enjoy using the the good, the bad and the ugly because it lightens up my thinking a bit and still helps me be reflective. Thanks so much for adding to this new year dialogue. I look forward to our continued connection!!
Terri –
I appreciate that you used yourself as an example first and then provided a great list of questions.
I love that you put question 4 & 5 together. One to celebrate what was right and one to be accountable. It is so tempting to dewll on one or the other without the balance of both.
It is so true Chery that it is all about balance when we reflect on how we performed during the past year. Both the accomplishments and the areas we didn’t achieve as much need to be considered in unison to really understand our full annual story.
Thanks so much for adding your great insights and here’s to a great 2015!