What would you do if you could do it again?

This is the kind of question you want to ask yourself at the end of the year to 1) reflect on the year passing and 2) to get an idea what you can change the following year.

I usually spend some time at the beginning of January to do that. I think about my highs and lows of the past year and ponder about the year ahead.

Like most people, I have resigned from writing down new year’s resolutions in the form of vague or unrealistic goals.

I like the idea of starting a year afresh as if I had a blank canvas to paint the story on. Of course, that is not how reality necessarily looks like since our circumstances might not change.

However, imagine you could do a reboot/reset/refresh of your inner world – your thoughts, your attitudes, your ideas, your values, your beliefs, your goals, your habits, your behavior…

What files would you like to delete and start afresh?

Here are 7 questions that you can ask yourself in order to get ready for a blank canvas.

Even if you have already planned out your 2020, let me encourage you to reflect on these questions as they will help you avoid making the same mistakes as this year.

1. What THOUGHTS and BELIEFS have been holding me back from achieving what I had set out to accomplish this year?
   e.g. ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I’m not this or that…’, ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘I’m too old’, ‘I’m too young’, ‘I’m not qualified enough’, ‘this is just not me’, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘this is too hard’, ‘why me?’, ‘everyone is against me’, etc.
   
   
2. What ATTITUDES have not been helpful to reach my goals?
   e.g. lack of patience, lack of gratefulness, lack of respect, lack of kindness, lack of determination, lack of courage, pessimism, laziness, perfectionism, overcommitment, etc.
   
   
3. What DISTRACTIONS did I allow to get in my way this year?
   e.g. social media, streaming services, comparison, social busyness, etc.
   
   
4. What HABITS have been counterproductive this year?
   e.g. having desserts, snoozing the alarm, task focus over people focus, reacting instead of responding, assuming instead of asking, etc.
   
   
5. What VALUES have I neglected this year?
   e.g. integrity, discipline, excellence, communication, openness, people focus, generosity, resourcefulness, honesty, kindness, strength, respectfulness, etc.
   
   
6. What BEHAVIOR has not been helpful to achieve what I had desired for this year?
   e.g. acting out of anger, speaking instead of listening, overruling others, lack of acknowledgement of success, not speaking up, micromanaging, indecisiveness, etc.
   
   
7. What IDEAS have I procrastinated?
   e.g. to start something new, to change that process, to develop that person, to write that blog/book/song/movie, to do skydiving, to get leadership coaching, etc.

Feel free to copy these questions into a word document and start your own list. Take your time.

By looking back, we get a clearer picture of where we are at and why we find ourselves in that place.

What this is not about is dwelling on the past, beating yourself up or reminiscing on what could/should/would have been.

Once you finished these 7 questions, start a new document and write your 2020 goals on top.

Then go through the list and write 3-5 thoughts/beliefs, values, habits etc. that will help you achieve your goals.

If you have not set your goals yet and would like some help with that, let me know.

I provide coaching for leaders and managers who want to become more effective in their leadership of people.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Happy Monday!

Desiree

Photo by Kalle Kortelainen on Unsplash