Ravi Kumar, podcaster at yoursproductly.com and editor of Power Books, provides a guide for reflection over the year 2020 that’s gone by with may ups and downs that different people faced differently. While reflecting, pick your own questions because eventually the questions should be meaningful to you, he says. Here are some tips:
What did I accomplish?
Force yourself to think about your achievements and times when you were proud of yourself, did something well or put a problem behind you. Make a note. Bragging is allowed. Awareness brings its own reward. Shifting your attention to what you have accomplished in the past year awakens your ‘Can do!’ attitude and gets you back in touch with your ability to make things happen. Remembering and writing your accomplishments is a great way to end the year.
What were my biggest disappointments?
So, what were your disappointments in the past year? Pick up your pen and write them all down. Remember when you disappointed yourself and didn’t do what you hoped to do. Recall the instances when others didn’t do what you wanted them to do. There’s more value than you can imagine in just writing these disappointments down. While it seems like something to avoid — who wants to think about all this? — I’ve always felt a great weight lift from me when I gave myself time to think about what happened rather than pretending it didn’t hurt so much. Telling the truth to yourself provides a great release, and doing it inside the Best Year Yet context shows you the way ahead.
What did I learn?
Look back over your answers to the first two Best Year Yet questions to see what you’ve learned. In reviewing Question One, what you accomplished, what possible lessons do you see? Take a minute to answer the following questions:
Now, take time to read over what you saw as your disappointments and failures.
What are my personal values?
Your values are your personal principles or standards — your judgment of what’s important or valuable in your life. What really gets you out of bed in the morning? Why do you work so hard? What drives you to do what you do? Your automatic response may be that you have no choice — that you are a victim of circumstances. But it’s time to go beyond that.
What roles do I play in my life?
As you de ne your roles, remember that this is your list just for now. It’s often necessary to drop old roles, add new ones or change some as circumstances change. To clarify all the roles you play, think about these questions. What are my current responsibilities? What am I accountable for in my life? What do I do during the day? The weekends? What would I call the role I’m playing as I’m doing each of these activities? Take a look at your full list of roles.
Which role is my major focus for the next year?
The purpose of seventh step in the Best Year Yet process is to create a breakthrough in your life by selecting one of your roles as your major focus of attention. Other roles will have goals as well, but there will be one area where you’ll want or need to make the most improvement or biggest change right now. To help yourself select your major focus, ask yourself these questions:
• If I could put one problem behind me, once and for all, what would it be?
• In which role do I want to have a breakthrough?
• Which role do I most want to feel a sense of mastery in?
What are my goals for each role?
In my experience, the goal factor is the most important distinguishing characteristic of truly e‑ffective people. It is far more important, for example, than a person’s education or intelligence. But goals alone are not nearly enough. People whose goals are aligned with their values achieve more satisfaction and ful llment. Value-driven goals lead to behavior and performance that express who we are. The more specific your goal, the more quickly you’ll see what to do and be able to spend the resources to achieve it.
The guidelines for powerful goals are:
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