How to wrap up the year as a leader

Five questions to reflect on as the 2023 season comes to an end.

The end of the year provides us with an opportunity to reset ourselves as we reflect on the year that was, and look excitedly into the future.

One thing about us - is that we tend to only remember the really emotionally charged parts of the year and then the end of the year. It's called Peak-End theory, where we remember the peaks and the end (SUPER creative name lol). To help you reflect, so you don't miss out on some of the smaller moments that might have still had a big impact, I'd recommend just flipping through your calendar or diary. Refresh yourself on what really happened this year. 

As a champion of leadership, I like to go through these questions from the perspective of a leader BUT you could also use them to review your personal life, or your wellness across any other facet e.g. physical wellbeing, emotional wellbeing.

Let's set the scene first:

✅ Find a quiet spot to reflect - just you and your thoughts bb!

✅ Put on some tunes if you want (here's my fave Spotify playlists for something like this: Sunday Afternoon, Butter, Coffee Break at Café Kitsuné)

✅ Grab your emotional support water bottle or a lovely juice/tea/coffee.

✅ Have something to capture your thoughts - a pen and a journal/notebook/notion page.

What were your biggest WINs?

You achieve things that are worth celebrating, and that's important to remind yourself. Did you set yourself any goals for 2022? What did you achieve this year that you're the most proud of? It could be something that you delivered, a goal you crushed, or it could be something that you experienced - a situation that was challenging but you survived and thrived through it.

What were your biggest learnings?

Learning helps us to grow, it helps us use our experiences to forge better, more powerful ways forward and it helps us find new perspectives and train ourselves to think more critically - take a step back and view the situation with a lab coat on and see what really happened and what we learnt - instead of sometimes being too caught up in the storm of emotions in the middle of the situation.

When you look back at the year, what did you learn? What situations do you reflect on and realise that if you had done XYZ differently, you could have gotten a better outcome? 

Were they hard lessons to learn? Did you enjoy learning them? How often were you outside your comfort zone this year?

What do you want to do MORE of in 2023?

Do you want to invest in yourself more? Do you want to spend more time with certain people or doing specific things? What energises you? What activities, people and situations bring life, light, joy, growth and energy to you?

Some ideas: more time with people who lift you up, more time being creative, more time alone, more time trying new activities e.g. painting, sport, new skills, more investment into your own growth.

What do you want to do LESS of in 2023?

What drained you this year? What activities, people or situations took more than they gave? What left you feeling demotivated, low vibing or frustrated? That's what we need less of in 2023! UNLESS you feel like you can grow from the situation?

Some ideas: less screen time, less overtime at work, less time with people who drain you, less time with people who are negative, less time in situations that need more work than you want to give.

What are your 2023 goals? and how will you set yourself up for success?

What do you want to achieve in 2023? Think about your goals across your life holistically: financial, career, emotional, relationships. What stepping stones and tools do you need to put in place to help you achieve your goals? 

Look at how you layer up your goals, and make sure there are staggered deadlines. You don't want all your goals due in December 2023 - we know what we're like, we'll be procrastinating like a champ! Break up your big goals into smaller goals with tighter deadlines e.g. part one is due in Feb 2023, the next phase in May 2023.

Some ideas: what do you want to achieve at work? what new skills do you want to learn? what do you want to achieve with your team? what do you want to achieve in your relationships? 

Want some more help to plan for 2023?

I've got two epic free workshops coming up - one to help you plan your teams growth, and one to help you plan your leadership growth! If you can't make it on the day, I'll be emailing out a replay you can watch in your own time. 

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