Reflect & Preflect: Don't Let this Year Slip Away

Anything that has an air of closure to it brings on reflection. December is no different. Although January 1 is just the day after December 31, we add more weight to both those days. December 31 ends something. January 1 starts something. It is a man-made construct we can use to our advantage. The challenge is we often feel the heaviness of the end and beginning, but we rarely do something about it.

That is mostly the problem - we know what to do… we just don’t do it. And then we expect our next year to miraculously be better than our past year. It is a vicious cycle.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

If we want next year to be _(more productive, happier, healthier, etc)_ we need to take the time to reflect on our past and preflect on our future. There is not one correct way to reflect - everyone has their own version - but the important thing is to do it. We have two types of reflection:

Alignment Reflection- did your behaviors align with your desired outcomes and values system?
Implementation Preflection- how to take a concept you have been pondering and turn it into action.

ALIGNMENT REFLECTION

Within my accomplishments, what am I most proud of and how does it support my goals?
Who did I positively impact this year?
Where did I miss an opportunity to connect with someone?
What did I say I was going to accomplish which I did? How does that accomplishment align with my personal purpose and leadership vision?
What did I say I was going to accomplish which I didn’t? How did it slow my progress? What was in my way? Is it important to accomplish it at some point?
What did I spend a significant amount of time working on this year? What is the ROI of that time?

IMPLEMNTATION PREFLECTION

What have I talked about doing (task or behavior) that I have yet to do? What is the first step to making it happen?
What is one thing I do not want to repeat in the next year? How will I set myself up to avoid it?
What relationship have a struggled with? What expectations do I need to reset?
Where is a bottle neck in my time? What does it look like to eliminate it?
What feedback have I received (active or passive) and how do I act on that feedback?
At the end of next year, what do I want to say I did?

You have the opportunity to reflect and preflect as you head into the holiday season and close out the year. Don’t let 2019 slip by without considering the impact you had and don’t let 2020 begin without truly considering the impact you want to make.