Be kind, rewind
Do you remember that blue and yellow sticker that was on each VHS tape you rented from Blockbuster? Did you rewind every single time?
Umm…. I bring up rewinding because I think doing a yearly review is something we all need to do so we can see how far we’ve come, even if it doesn’t seem like we've accomplished much. If you’re like me, then you probably can probably be a little hard on yourself if you don’t hit those big goals. This yearly review exercise will help you step back and realize all the things that you did accomplish.
To do this, I usually put three things down on a piece of paper that I'm proud I did and three things that I hope no one finds out about. I then try and figure out the lessons that I was supposed to learn from them – this part is key to your yearly review.
The process can be so hard for me to do.
It's easy to point out other people's mistakes, but pointing out your own and then telling the world…that's a hard pill to swallow. But I do it every year because it leaves me more focused on what's upcoming.
I’m going to give you my 5-part framework for your yearly review…
- Write down where you were a year ago
- Write down 3 things that don’t want anyone to know about
- Write down 3 things you are super proud you accomplished
- Write down the lessons learned from these 6 things above
- Write down a “word of the year” that you’ll live by
As I said, this can be tough, so I’ll walk through mine to give you some ideas and inspiration. Sound good?
So, where was I a year ago?
I chuckle, thinking about that. One year ago I was sitting in my warm office as I watched from the window as my husband ran down the street trying to wrangle our trash cans from the Utah winds. I can still remember it, he was in his snow boots, jacket, and shorts – yes shorts. A little bit different than the 87-degree weather every day here in Puerto Rico.
Alright, let's knock out the bad in this yearly review. What were the bad things that happened?
Yearly Review Bad Thing #1
We moved 3,139 miles away to a new land. Now, yes we made this decision ourselves, but that didn’t mean it was easy. At 2 weeks post-move, we broke down and cried. At 6 weeks post-move, we broke down and cried. It’s not that we don’t love Puerto Rico; it’s just that change is hard!
Lesson Learned:
Home is where your family is. You’ll face challenges whether you are moving down the street, to the next state over, or to a new country. What really matters is that you realize what makes a home is who you are with.
Yearly Review Bad Thing #2
I was hoarding. Not hoarding physical things, I was trying to hoard information. I was out there trying to learn a bajillion different things so it would move the needle on my business, but I realized that it was having the opposite impact.
Lesson Learned:
Identify what I need then invest in experts that know that thing like the back of their hand. I don’t need to know everything, and if I try to know everything, my business won’t grow. I had to really step back this year and leverage experts to help get myself and my students more results.
Yearly Review Bad Thing #3
I worry too much about my body image. This really became known to me after I decided to make a note of each time I had a thought about it. Whoa! There were a lot of notes. But it wasn’t so much about the body image thoughts – I was concerned because of what I could get accomplished if all that headspace was used for helping my students and not worrying about how my tighs look in the bathing suit.
Lesson Learned:
Directing my thoughts from something like body image to something more productive, I could change a heck of a lot more lives.
Ok, ok, enough bad stuff, let’s chat about the GOOD in this yearly review!
Yearly Review Good Thing #1
We moved 3,139 miles away to a new land. Yeah, this was both a bad and a good thing. The reason it was good is that we got to purge our house before the move. It was crazy just how much stuff can accumulate when you live somewhere for a few years.
Lesson Learned:
The less stuff you have in your living environment, the less stuff you have to take care of. That’s just more space in your house and in your mind. Don’t underestimate how much a clean, clutter-free environment can impact your headspace.
Yearly Review Good Thing #2
I threw my first event! This was such a HUGE accomplishment for me. I was sitting in my car crying before it started, thinking of all the ways I could cancel the event that was just 3 days away
Lesson Learned:
The more freaked out you are, the bigger your success is going to be. That means there will be things that are seemingly working against you, but you’ve got to keep moving ahead because growth comes from pressure.
Yearly Review Good Thing #3
If you want to know my third good thing and how you can choose your “Word Of The Year”, then you’ll want to scroll back up to the top and click on that play button!
Oh, and be sure to tell a friend about the podcast – that can be your Christmas present to me 🙂
xo
Alison
Making my kids cry. Why? Because I Can
