Most people have unique routines for winding down a year. For some it’s traditional, for others it’s religious. Some would rather be alone, and others want to be surrounded by millions. Some people devour predictions for the coming year, others fast; some make resolutions and others are focused on vision casting and goal setting.
What’s your wind down routine?
Whatever your ritual or routine, I’d like to share my three productivity tips to wind down the year productively.
This will be short and quick…
REFLECT
I’ve always said that if you don’t think deep, you can never soar high. Reflection is the bedrock of great minds.
I recently read this on the web (sorry I cannot recall who said it): “Reflection transforms experience into genuine learning about individual values and goals and about larger social issues”.
So if you want to gain full benefit from your experiences, you need to make daily reflection a habit.
When I first started learning about reflection, I thought I had to wear yoga pants, sit cross-legged on a mat and say ‘hummmmmmm…..’ LOL Nothing could be further from the truth, I’ve learned. There are so many less spooky ways to reflect and gain the full benefit of the habit.
If you are not sitting on the floor making funny noises, what then are you doing? I recommend grabbing a journal and pen and sitting in somewhere secluded where you will not be distracted. Then write down your impressions as you reflect. “But what am I expected to reflect upon?” I hear you ask… well let’s get right to it…
Within the context of winding down the year productively, these are the things I believe we ought to reflect on:
Lessons Learned: Think about the major life lessons of the year.
- Did you have a landmark experience in the course of the year?
- What did it teach you?
- What facet of your personality did you uncover?
One of my major lessons of this year is my capacity to cope in times of extreme personal pressure and deep loss. If you have been following this blog, you already know that for years I was my dad’s primary caregiver and that after a debilitating stroke in March2017 he passed on in May 2017. I had to manage his health and subsequently his funeral, my home, myself while growing a new business. I never knew I had that capacity. It has made me trust myself more, and have more confidence in my inner strength.
What about you? Has something happened to you this year that has made you understand better, become better, love deeper, and grow stronger?
Gratitude: You cannot simply reflect on lessons learnt and not consciously be grateful for each experience can you? I don’t believe you can’t.
Even when things don’t quite go as planned, you should be aware that things could have been infinitely worse. So, what are you grateful for?
Gratitude is such a powerful exercise as it opens you up to receiving more grace. Gratitude perpetuates fullness. Throwing gratitude out to the universe is like throwing a boomerang into the air…it comes back to you.
You now you have reflected on both lessons learned and things you are grateful for. I need you to reflect on Missed Opportunities. The say hindsight is 20:20, don’t they? Well that’s because we need to see clearly so we don’t repeat our mistakes, or miss the same opportunities again.
- Which opportunities to collaborate did you miss out on?
- Did you (like me) miss an investment opportunity?
I had the opportunity to invest in a vegetable farm this year; I was just too preoccupied with other things in my life that I failed to pursue the opportunity. Well fast-forward 11 months and this farm is thriving. When I could have been a part owner of a great enterprise, I am now buying produce from them at market prices.
I will never be caught unawares again!
The value of reflection cannot be downplayed, because it shows you the real picture of things. There is nothing left to your imagination or mental “guestimation”.
When you are done reflecting, you need to start to gather the building blocks of your future success. The thoughts and ideas revealed in your reflection will be ample fodder for this next step that I call ‘The Gathering’, I assure you.
THE GATHERING
It is The Gathering because it is intentional and focused. There is nothing incidental here.
In your journal, I need you to gather your thoughts and write down
All of the resources and tools you will need to leverage your lessons learned, maximize your gratitude, engage every future opportunity. Also, think about your goals for the coming year, what tools, and resources or input do you need to make the coming year phenomenal? You need to write these out as clearly as possible. Write them in such a way that they compel you to move in the direction of your goals.
Who do you need in your life to make your goals click? These are your co-collaborators. You need to have a fair knowledge of the people you will collaborate with in the coming year. Some of them you already know, others you need an introduction to. Who are the connectors that will introduce you to your co-collaborators?
When you gather you are preparing for the next season. You know that you won’t only have highs, don’t you? There will be valley moments too. How do you plan for that?
I plan for my valley moments by having a mental list of my motivators. These are people who believe in me, my vision and passion. When things happen that make me doubt myself, they are the people I go see to affirm myself. But I don’t rely on people only; I draw motivation from activities as well. Particularly, I draw motivation from reading. I tend to follow particular authors like Darren Hardy, Robin Sharma, Max Lucado, Joel Osteen and others.
I few years ago I read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and it changed my worldview and habits. He said ‘the accomplishment of any goal is the progressive accumulation or compound effect of small steps taken consistently over time’.
So, it’s not simply about taking massive action NOW; it’s about consistency. It’s about habit.
What you need to gather next is what I refer to as ‘Compound Effect Habits’. These are the small habits when if executed with constancy will lead to massive productivity.
These could be anything like taking the stairs instead of the elevator up to your office floor. It could be consistently cutting down on the number of cigarettes you smoke daily until you are able to cut out the habit.
My life is super busy; it’s always been this way. Over 25 years ago, I formed a habit of reading myself to sleep. Now, no matter how tired I am, I cannot go to sleep without reading something. This simple habit has helped ensure that I keep up my reading habit no matter what. And I credit reading for my personal development. I always have a verbal cheque that will cash, because I read.
This is by no means a passive list; consider these your marching orders.
VISUALIZE
Third full proof ritual that will help you wind down 2018 productively is visualization.
I need you to visualize your accomplishment of your vision and goals.
Why visualize? Kind of sounds like ‘wooo-wooo spooky’ stuff right? But I’ve tried it, and it works. Your mind really does rule if you give it free reign. There aren’t any limitations on us in our mind- that’s why you can dream you are flying with not a care in the world. What if you could achieve in your waking life what you see in your subconscious? You need to see it, feel it and have absolute certainty that you can achieve it … and you will.
Tony Robbins explains this so perfectly.
So, what do you visualize? What will you visualize? Write down what you see in your mind’s eye as clearly as you can. You will want to return to this ‘vision’ to support your resolve.
I’ve shared so much with you in here; I’d love to hear about your experience executing these rituals. How did they make you feel? Confident? Hopeful? Let me know.
One last thing, I’d like to invite you to join my social media family on Lizspire (Facebook and Instagram) and together we will release inspiration that will make us thrive.
I am running a Group Coaching Mastermind in January. The aim is instilling the habit of tracking individual goals for the year. I invite you to join me and others focused on Goal accomplishment for 21 days in January as we instill life changing and success habits.
Contact me for the joining link.
I’d like to extend my personal invitation to you to join me at my annual Goals Workshop.
Its created for:
- Entrepreneurs
- Coaches & Trainers
- Creatives
- Employees
- Solopreneurs
- Home makers
- Students
- Everybody
Its a full day event where you will roll up your sleeves, and WORK on your goals for 2019.
Also come prepared to have FUN creating your personal VISION BOARD!
Finally the networking opportunity is makes the workshop such a wonderful time.
I guarantee a life changing experience.
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