Most people use New Year's Eve (and Day) to plan forward for what might be in store for 2012. And that's a good thing. During the holidays, I try to look back at what happened over the past 12 months and ask myself a few simple questions:
- What went right?
- What went wrong?
- Who did I help?
- Who helped me?
Why? It's a great way to assess your growth, your track record, and to clearly see who is important in your life. I try to develop a list of bullet points under each question to ensure I am concise and targeted for each question. Let me break each one down:
What went right?
I always like to start with a positive — it gets me going and I dive right into any exercise. What did you do right this year? What decisions really paid off? What directions did you take which delivered increased revenue, energy, or positive challenges? What client not only loved you, but came aboard with gusto?
Next Steps: Keep doing this.
What went wrong?
What didn't turn out as we expected? Where did one of our decisions go off the tracks? Who did we expect to help us and they dropped the ball? What client didn't come through? What has been going along swimmingly and then all of a sudden stopped, disappeared, or caused a major upset?
Next Steps: Stop, reassess, and change direction.
Who did I help?
This is by far the most important question for me (and probably for you too). With my guidance and abilities, who did I reach out to and give them guidance, assistance, or direction? How did I use my talents to help them do their job? How did I help them make more money? Build a stronger client base?
Most importantly, how did I help them when they were down?
Next Steps: Who else can you help in 2012? How can you help more people?
Who helped me?
This is the one we always forget. This time of year is for reflection on those special people who went out of their way to help us grow our business, strengthen our career, and make us a better human being.
Next Steps: Send each of these people a personal letter or card telling them how much they changed your life. Do it today.
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P.S. How did you like this article? Let me know. Are you interested in what coaching can do for you? Let's talk. I work with people from all over the world who have the same questions — and we developed a successful and actionable plan for 2012. I schedule infrequent complimentary sessions — catch one today.
Image provided by Rich Gee.