My 2023 Annual Goals

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Annual reflection is much easier than annual goal setting.

Annual reflection is a one time event that is carried out by reflecting on the previous 12 months. 

Annual goal setting is a different story – annual goal setting isn’t a one time event.

Annual goal setting is a continuous process of learning, sharing, reflection & change that is worked on EVERY DAY FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.

This is what makes annual goal setting COMPLEX AND TIME CONSUMING, it is also what makes it INTERESTING AND WORTHWHILE. 

Before we set goals, it’s good to highlight how important Annual Goal Setting is.

Annual goal setting gives us DIRECTION for the year ahead. 

Where we end up as a result of goal setting is UNKNOWN but wouldn’t you rather be going in the DIRECTION YOU SET instead of anywhere else?

Annual goal setting gives us PURPOSE & MEANING and the more we work on our goals, the more PURPOSE & MEANING we bring into our lives. 

Who wouldn’t like more DIRECTION, PURPOSE & MEANING?

I’ve been sharing my Annual Review online for 10 years yet this is the first time I have shared my Annual Goals. I divide my Annual Goal Setting process into 3 parts, detailed below

A. Categorise my life using The Wheel of Life

B. Create a framework for Annual Goal Setting

C. Document my Annual Goals

 

A. Categorise my life using The Wheel of Life

The change tool I use to categorise my life is the Wheel of Life. The Wheel of Life has been widely used since the 1960s and so it has been around a very long time. The tool itself has not changed but how we use it evolves as our lives evolve. My Wheel of Life consists of the following categories,

1.Sense of Self

This is a category that I created recently as much of my time is spent here at the moment. 

This category combines my personal development, personal strategy and my relationship with myself.

This category is all about who I am, who I want to be, who I need to be to achieve my dreams and how I feel about myself and the world around me.

This is also where I work on the concepts of Self Love, Self Worth, Self Esteem, Self Belief, Self Trust, Self Confidence, Self Assurance, Self Understanding, Self Regard/Self Respect, Self Awareness and Self Observation

The success of this category determines the success in all other categories of my life and so it is the most important category in my Wheel of Life. 

It is well known in the world of personal development and business that if we don’t work towards our potential as a person we’ll never reach our potential in any of the other areas of our life. 

2. Relationships – This category is about my relationship with others in my life

3. Health is Wealth – This category is about my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health

4. Work – This category is about the work I do

5. Finance – This category is about personal finance

6. Social Life/Fun – This category is about my social life, having fun and recreation

7. Environment – This category is about our home on a personal level and our planet on a global level

8. Contribution – This category is about how I give back to a world that gives me so much

That’s it, my Wheel of Life.

What are the categories of your life?

Would you use some of the above categories?

 

B. Create a framework for Annual Goal Setting 

My annual goal setting format is short, simple and pretty high level yet it is detailed enough to give me enough direction to create plans. I use the below format for each area of my Wheel of Life, asking the questions

I. What are my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

II. WHY are my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS important to me?

III. HOW will I achieve my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

IV. What METRICS will measure progress towards my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

Below is an outline of these questions in detail,

 

I. What are my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

This is not an annual goal but more of a LIFETIME DREAM that annual goals work towards!

Remembering Brendon Burchard’s DUMB goals​

What are your DREAMS for every area of your life?

What would be a DREAM come true?

This is where we DREAM BIG about what we want for our lives.

There are no limits or obstacles in DREAM DRIVEN GOALS – just DREAMS!

HOW BIG WILL YOU DREAM?

 

II. WHY are my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS important to me?

Simon Sinek in his highly viewed Ted Talk and bestselling book says to START WITH WHY and that is where I start with goal setting.

I outline WHY DREAM DRIVEN GOALS are important to me.

Understanding my WHY not only supports the goal setting process but it also keeps me going when times get tough, which they inevitably will.

What is your WHY?

WHY do you want to FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS in each area of your life?

WHY are your DREAM DRIVEN GOALS important to you?

 

III. HOW will I achieve my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

The HOW is the actions taken to move closer to DREAM DRIVEN GOALS.

What ACTION do you need to take to get closer to your DREAM DRIVEN GOALS.

What do you need to START OR STOP DOING to move you closer to your DREAM DRIVEN GOALs?

What do you need to LEARN to move you closer to your DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

 

​IV. What METRICS will measure progress towards my DREAM DRIVEN GOALS?

Metrics are incredibly important as without them we don’t know how much progress we are making and whether we are moving towards or away from our DREAM DRIVEN GOALS.

What metrics will you use to measure your progress?

​‘WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS IMPROVED’ is a quote by Peter Drucker that is as true today as when he said it 40+ years ago.

 

That’s it, that’s my simple, short and high level format for Annual Goal Setting.

Could you use this format for your own goal setting? 

You’ll notice I don’t include timelines in my Annual Goal Setting format – this is on purpose.

How could I possible know when I will get to a year’s worth of goals?

I create TIMELINES when I create my PLANS and these change on a DAILY BASIS.

 

C. Document my Annual Goals 

I document my Annual Goals in Google Docs & Google Sheets and for the first time I have shared them online here in this blog post. 

Below are my 2023 Annual Goals for each area of my Wheel of Life:

1. SENSE OF SELF:

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To prioritise, work on, know, understand, accept grow, learn about and love myself to bring the best version of my truest, most authentic self to my life, my relationships & the world. 

To utilise, learn more about and improve my personal strategy. 

Reminder:

This category combines my personal development, my personal strategy and my relationship with myself.

This category is all about who I am, who I want to be, who I need to be to achieve my dreams and how I feel about myself and the world around me.

This is also where I work on the concepts of Self Love, Self Worth, Self Esteem, Self Belief, Self Trust, Self Confidence, Self Assurance, Self Understanding, Self Regard/Self Respect, Self Awareness and Self Observation.

The success of this category determines the success in all other categories of my life and so it is the most important category in the Wheel of Life.

If we don’t work towards our potential as a person we’ll never reach our potential in any of the other areas of our life. 

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

Our only source of real happiness and joy is within ourselves and so however we feel about ourselves is what we will bring to the world. In order to get the best out of and bring the best to the world I want to be the best version of myself. 

As mentioned above, if I don’t work towards my potential as a person I’ll never reach my potential in any of the other areas of my life and reaching my full potential is really important to me. 

My personal strategy keeps me on top of everything & ensures I get everything done with no stress, strain or pressure! The more visibility & understanding I have in my life, the more I can see what areas I want to improve and change. 

When I don’t utilise my personal strategy I feel disorganised, overwhelmed, under pressure, less grounded, less happy & less fulfilled. 

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023? 

  1. Create my Personal Strategy for 2023 
  2. Carry out daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual plans and reviews 
  3. Journal daily and weekly (daily journaling is a game changer in terms of self awareness)
  4. Spend sufficient time in solitude – I’m an introvert and so solitude is as important to me as oxygen is! 
  5. Read physical books and give away books I no longer need 
  6. Learn more about sprituality, psychology and concepts of self (basically learn more about myself!)

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

Progress in terms of ‘Sense of Self’ is difficult to measure, it’s almost intangible. It is however closely linked to my happiness, contentment and fulfillment of which all of the above add to immensely

  1. *Process confirmation that all elements of personal strategy is being carried out (plans, reviews, journaling etc) 

*Process confirmation is a tool we use in the Lean world which tells us whether a task has been carried out or not

  1. Progress on all Sense of Self concepts & learning
  2. Number of books read & given away 

 

2. MY RELATIONSHIPS

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To continuously nurture my relationships & spend quality time with Mike, my family & friends ❤️ This part of my life is really just about enjoying the company of those I love and who love me ❤️

There is no greater gift! ❤️  

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

My relationships with those I love are my greatest source of happiness and I want to ensure my relationships are given the time and space they deserve ❤️

I am at my happiest when in the company of those I love and who love me ❤️

The work I do in the ‘Sense of Self’ category will also support this category to ensure I bring the best version of truest, most authentic self to my relationships ❤️

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

Spend precious time with Mike, my family and friends – a simple goal yet one that brings the most joy in my entire life! ❤️

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

There are no metrics in this category although I do ensure I capture the precious time I spend with those I love in photos and journalled memories ❤️ 

 

3. HEALTH IS WEALTH:

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

These Dream Driven Goals are short and simple yet much work is required to work towards them. 

Mental & Emotional Health: To continuously protect & nurture my mental & emotional health 

Physical Health: To continuously work towards being the healthiest, fittest and strongest I can be

Spiritual Health: To grow and stay grounded spiritually

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

My health is the foundation on which everything else is built. Without health, nothing else can thrive. 

In 2022, my entire perspective on health changed. It is no longer about being healthy because I enjoy eating well, exercising and fitting into my clothes. 

Health is now about longevity and having health, fitness, strength & mobility to enjoy that longevity.

Dr Lisa Misconi says ‘Your health in mid life is the biggest determining factor of your health in later life’. This is why it is so important to become the healthiest, fittest and strongest than I have ever been!

I feel more grounded, happy, less anxious, less overwhelmed and more at peace with myself, life & everything when I feel fit and healthy.

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

I make the same health goals every year and have learned that progress is not linear. 

Some years I am at my healthiest, fittest and strongest and some years I am not. What matters here is not so much progress, but what I learn about my health and the continuous work I put in to improving it. 

 

1.Mental & Emotional Health: 

To allow, accept, understand and prioritise what supports my mental health. For me, mental health is the most important element of overall health as without optimum mental health, nothing else will function optimally. 

To allow, accept, understand and prioritise what supports my emotional life. I’m an Enneagram 4 and so pretty much live on my emotions! Managing my emotions needs to be a daily practise to stay sane!  

2. Physical Health: 

Continuously work on my physical health to be the healthiest, fittest and strongest I can be. I do this through embedding healthy habits for nutrition, exercise, sleep, relaxing etc. Here I schedule and monitor results of health check ups – optician, dentist, bloods etc. 

3. Spiritual Health: 

To learn, grow and stay grounded spiritually. This category is very much tied to the work I do in the ‘Sense of Self’ category and will ensure I bring the best version of my truest, most authentic self to my health and all aspects of my life ❤️

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

  1. Where I am on the Stress Performance Curve & the Emotional Scale 
  2. Health metrics of BMI, Weight, Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Bloods, 
  3. Health checks completed and progress on same 

 

4. FINANCE: 

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To achieve and enjoy Financial Freedom. 

Financial freedom is defined as ‘having sufficient income, savings or investments to live comfortably for life and meet all one’s obligations without relying on a salary/paycheck’. 

I have learned a huge amount about Financial Freedom from Tony Robbin’s excellent book ‘Money – Master the Game’. Tony says Financial Freedom is ‘a long-term plan to build the life of your dreams. Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want, that’s also financial freedom’.

Both of these definitions sit well with me and sum up my Dream Driven Goals for Financial Freedom! 

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

I want the freedom to do whatever I want with my precious time. 

I want the freedom to work for joy and not for the necessity of money. 

I want the freedom to give as much time as I want to other areas of my life

For me, financial freedom isn’t about having a certain amount of money, it’s more about using my financial situation to have the freedcom to enjoy all other areas of life as much as possible. 

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

I use the word ‘abundantly’ throughout my 2023 financial goals as I believe that reaching financial goals has as much to do with mindset as it has to do with money. 

If you haven’t read Carol Dwecke’s book ‘Mindset’ I highly recommend that you do. This book teaches the difference between having a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset and the consequences of both. 

I truly believe that having a Growth Mindset in terms of finances is the first step to reaching financial goals. 

 

  • To abundantly spend and enjoy spending 

To enjoy spending money and monitor my spending.

  • To abundantly increase my financial value 

To increase my financial value through savings and investments. 

My financial value is my total savings, investments and pensions. Financial value is a better metric than salary as while you could be staying on the same salary, your financial value could be increasing depending on your savings, investments and pensions. 

In stark contrast your salary could be increasing but if you’re not saving and investing, your financial value will decrease. 

I have 2 very large projects planned in this category this year which involves selling/buying property. I also have many smaller projects that will all move me a few steps closer to financial freedom. 

  • To abundantly earn more

I am currently on a break from earning money even though everything I do is geared towards becoming financially free! I have thoughts of returning to earning money but I don’t have a timeline yet! 😊

  • To abundantly stay out of consumer debt 

This is no longer a goal but something that needs to be sustained. I keep this documented as a reminder that consumer debt is something I never want to go back to. Whilst all my reasons/excuses for getting into consumer debt were justified (living my best life, building an investment portfolio, becoming a travel photographer), it took me years to dig my way out of it and it’s a place I never want to visit again. 

  • To abundantly learn more about finance 

To learn more about personal finance and continue to embed a Growth Mindset in terms of finance. 

I haven’t read many books on finance as it’s not my favourite subject but the books I have read made a huge impact on me. Below are books I highly recommend to learn more about personal finance. 

Money – Master the Game by Tony Robbins – I highly recommend this excellent book’. It’s a huge book and I didn’t understand much of it but it’s worth reading for chapter 8 which is all about Financial Freedom and how it’s not as difficult to achieve as you may think. 

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – this bestselling book was on my bookshelf for years before I finally read it last year and I look forward to reading it again this year. It’s the type of book that you can read over and over again as you go deeper and deeper into it’s wisdom. A must read for anyone serious about financial freedom! 😊

Mindset by Carol Dwecke – this book teaches the difference between having a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset and the consequences of both. I believe having a Growth Mindset is the first step to improving personal finance. 

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

  1. Progress in large and mini projects 
  2. Monitor & document total spend which is Detailed spend, Capital spend, Business spend
  3. Monitor & document total financial value which is Profit, Property & Pensions 
  4. Monitor & document total Earnings & Debt
  5. Document financial learnings 

 

5. WORK:

I currently spend the least time in this category which is ironic as for 25 years it is where I spent the most time! Even though I now spend the least time here, it is the life category that is changing the most. 

Having left my day job in October 2021, I am currently in between working for others and working for myself.

My focus at the moment is on my writing and building the foundation of my business through my Lean Business Strategy. 

 

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To be a writer. 

To build my own business.

To practice and teach Lean philosophy.

To continuously learn and improve my skills. 

To enjoy every minute of this process.

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

My favourite thing to do is write 

My second favourite thing to do is read which helps me be a better writer.

I have always wanted to work for myself and my business is my channel to achieving financial freedom. 

I want to have total freedom over my work, my time, my finances and my creativity. 

I want to learn more about myself, other people, Lean and business. 

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

Lean Business Strategy

  1. Create more time to write, read and create content 
  2. Start building my Lean Business Strategy 

Writing 

  1. Send weekly mail to my community – you can sign up for my weekly email here
  2. Carry out a Digital 5S Project – I’m so excited to get back to practicingLean after a break of almost 18 months! 😊

Income

  1. Return to Travel Photography work in some capacity. I have missed Travel Photography immensely as I haven’t dedicated much time to it in the past few years. 

Learning 

  1. I have bought loads of courses that I want to finish but these are on hold for the moment. 

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

  1. Progress in creating more time to write, read and create content 
  2. Progress in my Lean Business Strategy 
  3. Mailing list metrics & engagement 
  4. Progress in Digital 5S Project 
  5. Progress in Travel Photography work 
  6. Learnings and improvement in my skills 

 

6. SOCIAL LIFE/FUN/RECREATION:

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To have fun, smile, laugh out loud more & don’t take life too seriously!

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

Because it makes me feel good! 😊

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

  1. Spend time with loved ones who make me smile & laugh and bring me so much joy
  2. Be more aware of everyday activities that bring me joy and do more of them
  3. Be more aware of everyday activities that don’t bring me joy and do less of them

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

There are no metrics in this category although I do ensure I capture fun times in photos and journalled memories ❤️ 

 

7. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT:

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To improve and enjoy my environment which is our home on a personal level and our planet on a global scale. Remove everything that doesn’t serve me and only keep what brings me joy. 

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

Because it makes me feel good and I enjoy looking after & improving our living space – both on a personal and global level 😊

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

  1. Carry out Marie Kondo’s decluttering in our home. 

Marie Kondo’s overarching teaching is to remove anything from our homes that doesn’t SPARK JOY! Marie’s book ‘The Magic Art of Tidying Up’ is a must for anyone who wants more space in their home and life! 

2. Decorate our home with the support of an interior designer

3. Reduce my plastic usage and find ways to support the longevity of our planet

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

  1. Progress in Marie Kondo’s decluttering on our home. 
  2. Progress in decorating our home with the support of an interior designer
  3. Progress in supporting the longevity of our beautiful planet

 

8. CONTRIBUTION

What are my Dream Driven Goals?

To have sufficient financial stability to give to those in need.

To contribute to the world with my time & skills.

 

WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?

I want to give back and support those less fortunate because the world has given and continues to give me so much 😊

 

HOW will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals? What actionable steps will I take in 2023?

  1. I have been supporting 4 main charities that mean a lot to me for many years. All of these charity direct debits are currently on hold as I’m not working but I contribute financially to charities with once off payments. 
  2. Contribute to the world with my time & my skills – this means different things at different times.

 

What METRICS will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?

Monitor what I give and the impact on others and on me

 

That’s it, my 2023 ANNUAL GOALS that support my long term DREAM DRIVEN GOALS ❤️

Remember goal setting is just an activity and reaching goals is just a destination. 

What is really important is that you enjoy the journey between these 2 points in time. 

How you live, love through and enjoy each and every day is really what matters. 

To be content, happy and full of joy & vitality every day, that’s the real goal – everything else is just decoration! 

Whatever your goals are for 2023, I wish you love, laughter, success, happiness and enjoyment every single day as you work towards them. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Annual Review 2022

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In the Lean/Continuous Improvement world we carry out ‘Hansei’ which is Japanese for Self Reflection. Self Reflection allows us to reflect on what has worked so we can celebrate & build on the successes and also reflect on what didn’t work so we can adjust & change direction.  

I have been carrying out an Annual Review (Self Reflection) for many years and find it hard to believe this is the 10th year I have published this review online. (See end of this post for previous year’s reviews).

2022 was a strange year in that so many things I planned didn’t work out and so many things I didn’t plan did work out! 

I reached very few of my annual goals and 2022 was full of immense unplanned & challenging change (similar to 2020 & 2021). I have realised that no matter how much we plan, the path that is meant for us will always be the path we travel which is not necessarily the path we plan. 

Whatever 2022 brought you, I hope you find time to reflect on your year, leave behind what doesn’t serve you and bring into 2023 everything that supports & nurtures you. 

Below is my Annual Review for the year that was 2022.

I use the Wheel of Life to categorise my life, you can use this or your own version for reflecting on 2022. 

Relationships:  

Our greatest and most important relationship is with ourselves. I truly believe that how we feel about ourselves and how much we know & learn about ourselves dictates our level of success in every area of our lives.

This is why it is so important to prioritise understanding, trusting, accepting and loving ourselves. In 2022 I continued to learn more about & build my relationship with myself. I found 2022 to be a very challenging year and so my learnings were mostly about how I deal with adversity & challenges. 

As always, Mike, my family and my friends are my reason for everything and the source of much of my happiness. 

As I’m not working at the moment, I have the precious gift of lots of spare time. This gift given me so much time to spend with my loved ones. I see more of my boyfriend Mike as I’m home every evening when he gets home and I’m off on his days off. This has been blissful and a welcome change to when we were like passing ships pre Covid! 

I see my parents & family more than I have ever done which brings me so much joy. Before I left the workplace I would only see my parents & family at weekends and even at that it wasn’t every weekend – now I see them every week and for a few days most weeks. 

I cannot tell you how precious a gift this time is, no amount of money can buy it and no amount of time can replace it. 

In 2022 I made up for not travelling the previous 2 years and had 4 trips abroad. 

In January I went skiing in the Italian Alps with my friend Paula. In May Paula and I joined our friend Karin for a week in Santorini, Greece which was amazing – you can read about that here.

My Top 5 Reasons to Visit Santorini

In August, my friends Aine, Eileen and Therese and I went to VillaMoura, Portugal for a few days. I stayed longer and Paula joined me with her friends to enjoy another few days in the sun. This was such a relaxing trip with a dash of nightlife thrown in! 

Mike and I went to Edinburgh for a long weekend in November for the Scotland & All Blacks rugby game. Edinburgh is such a beautiful place and we had a super weekend.  

I am immensely grateful for my love Mike, my wonderful family and friends and I look forward to more adventures together in 2023.

Health is Wealth: 

There is no truer saying than health is wealth, our health is by far our greatest asset.

The quality of every area of our lives is totally dependant on our health.

I have always been aware of the importance of physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health and over the past few years, for many reasons, this awareness has been brought to a deeper level. 

In 2022 I watched loved ones deal with ill health which was really challenging and reinforces the importance of dedicating time & energy to learning about and improving our physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health. 

2022 was also challenging for me in all areas of my own health and I didn’t reach any of the goals I set for myself.

Improving our health is a journey and just like any other journey, it’s important to keep learning & moving forward no matter the pace!!

Here’s to a healthy 2023 for us all! 

Work:

I started 2022 with no day job but with big dreams of setting up my own business but decided against it after watching a Ted Talk on ‘The Power of Time Off’. 

I decided to do just that and take TIME OFF from working. 

You can read about my decision here, The Importance of Time Off

I did continue with some work in that I was still writing my weekly emails to my community, writing blog posts, sharing these blog posts on social media and co-hosting a Personal Strategy table with the Women in Lean network. 

As the year went on, I realised I needed to be true to myself and take real ‘TIME OFF’ from work and so I stopped writing blog posts and took a break from social media & the Women in Lean Personal Strategy table. 

The only work I now do is send my weekly email to my community to whom I am so grateful. 

It’s actually really difficult to completely take ‘TIME OFF’ from working as our human minds are wired to DO! It takes much focus and discipline to allow ourselves to just BE! 

This ‘TIME OFF’ work has been the most freeing time of my entire life and I am enjoying it so much I will continue it into 2023.

I still want to work for myself and set up my own business, just not yet! 😊

Finance: 

The more I learn about personal finance the more I wish personal finance was a subject I learned in school, it certainly would have saved me much trial and error. Just like health – finance is a journey of which learning & understanding are constant companions. 

In 2022 I continued to learn about personal finance and my relationship with money.

For the first time in 25 years I didn’t have a salary which taught me more than having a big salary ever could! Here are my top 3 financial learnings of 2022.

  1. One of the most important elements of finance is MINDSET – one person can receive €100 and feel rich and another could receive €1,000,000 and feel it’s not enough. The difference has nothing to do with numbers, it’s MONEY MINDSET. There are 2 types of MONEY MINDSET – abundance and scarcity – both will dictate your relationship with money and how freely it flows in and out of your life and also how much you enjoy earning and spending money. 

2. Abundance is not just about money – when I left my day job in October 2021 my income  dramatically reduced but I felt more abundant in so many other areas of my life. Abundance is not just about money – abundance is also about love, time, health, freedom and everything else that money cannot buy. This abundance of love, time, health & freedom brings me more joy than any amount of money ever will! 

3. Time is more important than money – this is not a learning but a teaching from Jim Rohn. His quote about time and money is one of my all time favourites. 

‘Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time’.

Every day I am learning the true essence of this quote. Now that I no longer trade my time for money, I see the true value of time which is priceless – absolutely priceless. 

Pre Covid, I felt I was on a hamster wheel! I was so busy working (inside and outside of my day job), there was very little time in my week for anything else. Stepping off this hamster wheel has been without a doubt  the single best thing I have ever done for myself. 

Time seems to have slowed down. Time seems to be more enjoyable.

I’m no longer crazy busy, some days I’m not busy at all. 

Busyness has been replaced with bliss. Bliss in that I can now enjoy the time I have and not wonder where it has gone or if I’ll have enough time to get through my to do list!

In saying all of the above, I do know we all need money to live. 

I’m lucky to have worked in large companies for 25 years, I made some investments and have built a certain amount of wealth that now allows me to take this precious time away from work. When I left my day job I made a decision to spend some of this money and not worry about it. This might reduce my overall ‘financial value’ but what’s the point of earning money if we don’t spend it and enjoy every minute of that spending?

At some stage I will need to think seriously about how to balance this precious time off with my vision for financial freedom but for the moment I’m just going to enjoy it! 😊

Personal Development:

I have always loved and dedicated much time to personal development. 

Just like everything in my life, personal development changed immensely for me over the past 2 years. 

Every year, I used to read many physical books, listen to many audiobooks & podcasts and watch loads of Youtube videos & social media posts. I used to take online courses and learn as much as I could from mentors & coaches that I admired who were doing what I wanted to do.

This all changed in 2022.

I still read physical books as reading is one of my favourite things to do but I no longer consume so much information from others. 

My personal development is now more personal. My personal development is no longer about what I learn from others, it’s all about what I learn from myself.

My personal development now comes from awareness of me – who I am, who I am not, who I want to be, who I do not want to be, my thoughts, my actions, my reactions, my beliefs, my decisions, my likes and dislikes.

My personal development now comes from observation of my life at a cellular level – why I do what I do, why I think what I think, why I behave how I behave, what is driving me forward and what is holding me back.

This consistent awareness & observation of myself has been life changing.

We can spend way too much time wondering why our outside world isn’t suiting us yet spend very little time on why our inner world even cares! 

If you want to learn about how you can focus more on your inner world and less on the noisy, disruptive, all consuming outer world I highly recommend Anthony De Mello’s life changing book ‘Awareness’. 

If this is the only book you read in 2023 and you follow it’s teachings, it will transform your world! 😊

 Social Life/Fun:

This category could be combined with relationships as it is with those I love that I have the most fun times. No-one makes me laugh out loud more than those I love and those who love me – they are food for my soul! 

Globally our social lives took a hit in 2020 & 2021, thankfully all that changed in 2022. We started meeting people again and enjoying the social side of life. This was a slow process for me and I’m probably not as social as I was pre Covid. 

In saying that, in 2022 I enjoyed loads of meals out, days out, nights away, holidays and saw my loved ones way more than I ever have which brought me immense joy. 

Just like everything in life, you don’t have to be doing much to enjoy yourself and have fun. Mike and i share the same sense of humour and so our home is always filled with much laughter of which I am immensely grateful for. 

Environment:

For me, environment is about our planet on a global scale and our beautiful home on a personal level.

In terms of the planet, I reduced my plastic usage but the more I reduced, the more I realised I used. This is a work in progress. Global warming is a very real thing and small steps taken by many can really make a difference. 

This year I re-read Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ and started implementing it in our home. This has taken way longer than I had thought and will continue well into 2023. In saying that, I have enjoyed this process immensely. I’m a minimalist in that I don’t have or need much stuff but I only realised how much stuff I have when I started to declutter it! 

I have wanted to hire an interior designer to design our home for a long time. I know what I love in terms of interior design when I see it on Instagram & Pinterest but transferring that to our home is not a skill I possess.

I have started working with Wioleta Kelly who is a very skilled interior designer and I’m so excited to finally get this process started. 

Contribution: 

I have been supporting four charities for many years but this year I stopped all my direct debits to charities. This was a very difficult decision as these charities mean a lot to me and they do excellent life changing work. In saying that, I continued to give to charity, just not at the level I would have when I was working.

I became more aware of the contribution I make to the world in terms of my time & skills and which isn’t monetary. We all contribute to the world in so many ways that we don’t even notice, this has been an unexpected education!  

That’s it, my 2022 in review.

As with all Annual Reviews, looking back and reviewing my year brings pride in what I have achieved but also many lessons learned and things I would like to do differently that I will bring into 2023. 

Thank you for reading my blog posts and your kind words during 2022, I really appreciate your support. I hope whatever 2022 brought you that you can build on & learn from it to make 2023 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER.

May 2023 bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace & prosperity.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x x

If you want to carry out your own Annual Review, below is a list of blog posts to support you. 

5 Reasons To Prioritise Your Annual Review​​

​4 Steps To Your Annual Review​ 

My previous Annual Reviews can be found here,

2013   2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  2021

 

 

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Full or Fulfilled?

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Recently I had a conversation with a friend of mine around how fulfilled I am.

I left work last year (without another job) and so I have more time and thanks to this, my life is less full but more fulfilled.

I am less focused on the things that fill my life and more focused on the things that fulfill my life. 

There is a huge difference between what fills our lives and what fulfills our lives.

The definition of full is ‘Full (of something) containing or holding as much or as many as possible; having no empty space’ while the definition of fulfilled is ‘Fulfilled – feeling happy and satisfied that you are doing something useful with your life, satisfied or happy because of fully developing one’s abilities or character.

What definition do you prefer ‘full or fulfilled’?

Let’s go deeper into fulfillment, 

Fulfilling is defined as ‘causing somebody to feel satisfied and useful, making someone satisfied or happy through allowing their character or abilities to develop fully.

Unfulfilled is defined as  ‘(of a need, wish, etc.) that has not been satisfied or achieved. if a person feels unfulfilled, they feel that they could achieve more in their life or work, ​not causing somebody to feel satisfied and useful’

What definition do you prefer ‘fullfilling or unfulfilled’?

As a writer, I’m obsessed with words and there’s no better way to understand words than through synonyms. Synonyms are a word, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word. Sometimes we may not relate to a word but when we read the synonyms we can relate more easily to the meaning behind them.

How do the below synonyms for full/unfulfilled/unfulfilling make you feel? 

Would you like this to be a description of your life? 

Full: adequate, big, chock-full, complete, crowded, entire, intact, packed, stocked, sufficient, burdened, bursting, crammed, gorged, imbued, jammed, laden, lavish, loaded, overflowing, padded, replete, sated, satiated, satisfied, saturated, stuffed, choc a block, jam packed, plentiful, running over.  

Unfulfilled: Discontented, annoyed, begrudging, bothered, complaining, disaffected, disappointed, disgruntled, displeased, fretting, frustrated, grudging, grumbling, oended, unhappy, vexed, critical, envious, faultfinding, fed up, grumpy, insatiable, jealous, not happy, not satisfied,  

Unfulfilling: Depressing, disconcerting, discouraging, disheartening, distasteful, frustrating, mediocre, unpleasant, unsatisfying, bitter, displeasing, failing, lame, disagreeable, falling short, inadequate, ineffective, inferior, insufficient, unhappy

How do the below synonyms for fulfilling/fulfilled make you feel? 

Would you like this to be a description of your life? 

Fulfilling: Effective, accomplishing, achieving, adequate, binding, capable, conclusive, decisive, determinate, effecting, efficient, lawful, powerful, productive, qualified, sound, strong, successful, telling , useful

Fulfilled: Realised, satisfied, accomplished, achieved, actualised, attained, compassed, concluded, delighted, finished, gratified, matured, obtained, perfected, performed, pleased, reached, brought about.

How full is your life? 

How full do you want your life to be?

How fulfilled is your life?

How fulfilled do you want your life to be?

Do you want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Your Greatest Mentor is YOU!

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Following on from my blog post ‘The Magic of Mentors’, there are things that we need to learn from others but there is much more to be learned from ourselves. 

People can give us advice and tell us their opinion but no-one knows more about us than we do ourselves. 

When people give us advice, it is mostly well meaning, however it is advice based on their knowledge, based on their experience, based on their perspective and mostly based on what they would do themselves.

This advice is not based on our knowledge, based on our experiences, based on our perspective and based on what we would do. The only person who can give us this advice is ourselves! 

This is why coaching is so powerful because it has nothing to do with the coach’s knowledge, experience, or perspective, coaching is focused solely on YOU! 

So how do you become your own greatest mentor?

Here are a few ideas,

  • Believe in yourself
  • Trust yourself
  • Understand yourself
  • Grow yourself
  • Know what you want
  • Know what you don’t want
  • Put yourself first
  • Listen to yourself especially your gut instinct

Our gut instinct is so important in terms of guiding us in the right direction. I love Karren Brady’s description of what gut instinct is in her interview with Steven Bartlett, 

‘it’s made up of all of the experiences you have had through your career and when you are faced with a problem, you’ve been in that movie before, you’ve had that movie before, different problem in a different moment about a different thing but very similar and you know the outcome. So your gut instinct goes, hang on a moment, I’ve somehow been here before and I know how this plays out’ Karren Brady

Karren goes on to say ‘I find that if I follow my gut instinct I tend to make the right decisions and if I ignore it (gut instinct), it tends to go bad’

I also feel the same in that when I make decisions aligned with my gut instinct I tend to make the right decisions and when I don’t listen to my gut instinct, these decisions usually turn out unhelpful to me. 

Are you your own greatest mentor?

Do you believe in yourself and trust yourself?

Do you listen to your gut instinct?

Do you want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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The Magic of Mentors

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I believe that if you want to grow in any area of your life & business, you need a mentor. 

First let’s define what a mentor is. Wikipedia says it is ‘A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. A mentor influences the personal and professional growth of a mentee. Most traditional mentorships involve having senior employees mentor more junior employees, but mentors do not necessarily have to be more senior than the people they mentor. What matters is that mentors have experience that others can learn from’.  

For me, a mentor is someone who has been there, done that. Someone who is doing what I want to do and is gracious & generous in sharing their gifts and their journey.

My life has been a journey of ever changing mentors, as my life has evolved, so too have my mentors.   

Since leaving my job (without another) last year I have had lots of time to focus on my passions in life which are Writing, Lean, Business, Psychology, Marketing and Travel Photography. This has led me to find brand new mentors to follow & learn from which has deepened my respect for and knowledge in these areas of interest.  

There is a popular saying that people come into our lives for a reason, season and lifetime, I believe the same applies to mentors.

Mentors that come into our lives for a reason help us through a specific time or until we have figured out something specific. When these mentors have guided and supported us through what we need to move through, we go our separate ways. The mentors that came into my life for a reason will always have a special place in my heart. 

Mentors that come into our lives for a season tend to be our mentors for a longer length of time. These seasons can span days or decades! 

I have many mentors who I have been following & learning from for many years and some for decades. These are people who continue to inspire me with all they do and whom I continue to learn a huge amount from. 

Some of these mentors I no longer follow closely. I’m still familiar with the great work they do but our paths no longer closely align as they once did. This is normal as mentors are meant to change, just as the seasons do. 

Mentors who come into our lives for a lifetime are those whose values and behaviours we deeply align with and who we have so much to learn from. For me, there are mentors whose wisdom is so deep that there is no end to it and no end to what I can learn from them. 

So where do you find a mentor? 

Thanks to the internet, it has never been easier to find people to learn from and to learn from them. 

Mentors we know through the online world can be found through their books, podcasts, videos, social media channels, newsletters (mailing lists) – basically everywhere! 

Mentors in the real world can be official mentors in that you have signed up to be their mentee or to be coached by them. Mentors in the real world can also be anyone you come into contact with. I learn from everyone, if our paths have crossed in the real world, then I have learned from you. 

Learning is everywhere if you want it to be! 

Do you have a mentor? 

Who do you learn from?

Who would you like to learn from?

Do you want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ and sign up to my Weekly Newsletter below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

 

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A Guide to Your Business Mid Year Review

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

When it comes to business strategy and the goals you have set, the Mid Year Review is the most important as there is way more progress in 6 months than can be seen daily, weekly and monthly or even quarterly which is highly motivating. 

Ideally you are reviewing progress of your business goals daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly which makes your Mid Year Review easier, more streamlined and more effective,

Your Mid Year Business Review is carried out as you approach the end of June so your action plan is in place for July or shortly after. 

Here are 6 simple steps to carry out your Business Mid Year Review:

Step 1 – Review your business goals, the metrics you use to measure progress and the progress itself

Are your goals still relevant? 

Ensuring the goals you set at the beginning of the year are still relevant is critical to the success of your business. Having irrelevant goals means you are traveling in the wrong direction which is almost worse than having no goals!

 Are the goals you set at the start of 2022 still relevant to you and your business?

Do your goals still align with your Business Vision, Mission, True North and Values? 

Your Vision is your direction. 

No Vision, no direction, no progress! 

Are you regularly communicating your Vision, Mission, True North & Values to your people?

Are you regularly making decisions aligned with your Vision, Mission, True North & Values?

If not, your direction exists only on paper which is not the best place to have it! 

Note: If you don’t have a Vision, Mission, True North & Values, now would be a good time to start thinking about creating these. No matter where you are in terms of your business, it is never too late to make positive change and that change starts with Vision, Mission, True North & Values. 

Do you have the correct metrics in place? 

Your metrics should highlight progress towards your goals and should also highlight obstacles that get in the way of progress towards your goals.

Do your metrics highlight progress towards your goals?

Do your metrics highlight obstacles that get in the way of progress towards your goals?

When do you review these metrics? 

Are your metrics at the right level?

Are you improving your processes?

If you are not improving your processes, chances are your metrics are standing still or going backwards!

Process improvements = metrics moving in the right direction = goals achieved

Step 2 – Evaluate what worked for you, how were you successful?

What worked for you in the past quarter?

 What did you do that enabled this success?

 What areas of your business were successful?

 What parts of your business did you enjoy?

What parts of your business brought you happiness and joy?

Step 3 – Evaluate what didn’t work for you, what got in the way of success?

 What didn’t work for you and got in the way of your goals?

 How did you deal with and overcome these obstacles?

 What areas of your business were unsuccessful?

 What parts of your business did you not enjoy?

What parts of your business did not bring you happiness and joy?

Step 4 – Make informed decisions about your key focus areas for the next quarter/6 months

Based on the answers to all of the above, what ACTION will you take for the next quarter/6 months? 

Strategy reviews are only as good as the ACTIONS that are taken as a result of those reviews.

  • Are your 2022 goals still achievable based on progress made in the last 6 months?
  • Do you need more goals to stretch yourself?
  • Do you need less goals to stop over stretching yourself?
  • Are there goals that no longer serve you?
  • What are your priority goals for the next quarter/6 months?
  • What are your non priority goals for the next quarter/6 months?
  • What will you do to continue progress in successful areas of your business?
  • What will you do to learn from and turn around unsuccessful areas of your business?
  • How will you measure progress of your goals in the next quarter/6 months?
  • What metrics will you update, add, remove?
  • How often will you update these metrics?
  • Where will you document your goals, metrics, progress?
  • How will you communicate your plans to your team?

Step 5 – Document and share your strategy, goals, metrics & progress

It’s really important to capture your goals, metrics & progress on your goals somewhere.  

It doesn’t really matter what you use from once you write your goals down and track progress daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly that will, at the end of the year, result in your Annual Review.

Whether you prefer physically putting pen to paper or to use something electronic there are so many options. The science behind why writing things down to enable success is outlined in the amazing book ‘Write It Down, Make It Happen’. 

My favourite tools for documenting are,

Physical – I love Moleskine journals for tracking progress of goals & journalling. Moleskine journals are colourful, hard wearing, long lasting journals of the highest quality. 

Online – My tools of choice online are Google Docs & Google Sheets and Google Slides. These are almost identical to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. 

I use Asana for Project Management and absolutely love it. Asana has an app which is super simple to use and keeps everything in the one place and all super organised. 

These tools are all ABSOLUTELY FREE, are very easy to use and are all you need to set and track progress in your business. 

When you have completed your Business Mid Year Review it’s critical that you share the outcome of your review and your plans for the next quarter/6 months with your team. 

There is no greater way to show respect to your people than sharing the progress they have made and the plans you have for them in the future. 

Step 6 – Learn more about Lean Business Strategy

The longer I work in Lean Business Strategy the more I learn.

There is always another level of Lean Business Strategy to move into and learn about.

If you are looking for a book on Lean Business Strategy, I highly recommend ‘Getting The Right Things Done’ by Pascal Dennis and really any other books by Pascal Dennis. 

Getting The Right Things Done is an incredible book that can be visited again and again as you move deeper & deeper into the world of Lean Business Strategy and success.

This is my bible in terms of Lean Business Strategy and Pascal Dennis is one of my favourite Lean mentors.

The best place to learn about your business is from your people. Ensuring your people are your primary source of learning will not only sky rocket your business but will also deliver a Lean culture where people are deeply respected. 

Take the time to listen to your team and prioritise their development. There is no end to what your talented people can teach you if you give the time to listen and learn!

I wish you success, health and happiness as you look back at the last 6 months and even more success, health and happiness as you look forward to the next 6 months.

If you liked this post, you might like like my post on the 

‘A Guide to Your Personal Mid Year Review’

Want to read more about Positive Change in life & business?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ and sign up to my Weekly Newsletter below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain 

x x

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A Guide To Your Mid Year Review

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

It’s time for your Mid Year Review 😊

The first 6 months of the year have gone so fast! 

How has the first 6 months of 2023 been for you?

Below are the 4 Steps to your Mid Year Review that will help you answer that question. 

As you answer the questions in each step, refer to your Wheel of Life that contain the key areas of your life. If you haven’t created a Wheel of Life, you can use mine below. 

The areas of my Wheel of Life are Sense of Self, Relationships, Health, Work, Finance, Recreation, Environment & Contribution. 

It’s important that you document your review somewhere so you can refer to it and hold yourself accountable to the actions that come out of your review. 

Step 1 is all about what went well over the past 6 months

i. What worked well for you in the past 6 months? 

What did you do that you enjoyed?

What worked out exactly how you wanted or better than you wanted? 

There are so many blessings in our lives each and every day, sometimes it’s just a matter of taking a closer look to find them.

You may see that life goes your way more than you may realise.

Using a daily gratitude journal can really help answering this question. 

If you don’t have a daily gratitude journal maybe it’s something you could start for the next 12 weeks. Even just one gratitude a day over 12 weeks is about 90 things to be grateful for over 12 weeks, wouldn’t that be something really lovely to look back and reflect on?

ii. What did you do that supported this success?

How did you bring success into your life?

How did you contribute to the things that worked well for you?

Did you work hard at something and then reap the rewards?

Did you make sacrifices to improve your life?

When we reflect on how we are successful in areas of our life, we underestimate the part we played in that success.

YOU are successful and YOU are the creator of that success. YOU have brought all of your happiness, joy and success into your life. 

Knowing how you contribute to your own success means you can build on this to bring so much more success into your life.

iii.  What brought you joy and happiness in the past 6 months?

When were you at your happiest over the past 6 months?

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you? 

Knowing what brings us happiness allows us to create more time to bring more happiness and joy into our lives.

Knowing who brings you happiness means you can create more time to spend with these very special people.

You want to be spending as much time as possible with those who bring out the best in you. The more you bring out the best in yourself, the more you can bring out the best in others.

iv. Are you happy with where you spent your time over the past 6 months?

Time goes by so fast and as we get older I think time seems to speed up that little bit more.

Time is so precious – we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year but nobody knows how many years we have. This realisation always makes me so determined to live life to the fullest every single day and that means spending my time where I am happy spending it.

Where did your precious time go over the past 6 months?

Are you happy with where your time was spent over the past 6 months?

Are you fully enjoying every minute of your days, weeks, months?

 

Step 2 of your Mid Year Review is all about what didn’t work well for you in the past 6 months.

i. What didn’t go well over the past 6 months

What didn’t go your way in the past 6 months?

What happened that you didn’t enjoy?

What didn’t go to according to plan?

What is holding you back from living your best life?

Challenges, obstacles and plans not working out are a normal part of life.

No matter how much we plan, no matter how much we try to control our plans there are times when things just don’t go our way. Acknowledgment and acceptance of this fact is the first step to turning challenges & obstacles into opportunities.

In his new book ‘Green Lights’, Matthew Mc Connaughey talks about the fact that if we only had green lights in life, if there were no amber or red lights, then life would be very boring and we would never grow and evolve. Such truth and wisdom in that.

How can you acknowledge and accept what doesn’t work out for you and understand this is all part of your path?

ii. What obstacles got in your way?

Looking back at the past 6 months, were there obstacles that got in your way? 

Obstacles & challenges can turn into opportunities for success if we take the time to evaluate and learn from them.

The question to ask here is what can you do to eliminate these obstacles & challenges and if you can’t eliminate them how can you think about them differently? 

We all have compete control over our thoughts and just reframing things in our mind can turn obstacles & challenges into opportunities for success.

Dr Wayne Dyer’s book ‘Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life’ teaches us that all we have to do to change what is not going well in our lives is to think differently about it. A most profound book, I highly recommend it.

iii. What didn’t bring you joy and happiness in the past 6 months?

Happiness and unhappiness go hand in hand. No human life is devoid of unhappiness just like no human life is devoid of happiness. Acceptance of this goes a long way to find out what exactly makes us unhappy.

When were you at your unhappiest over the past 6 months? 

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you?

Knowing what makes us unhappy allows us to think deeper about the role certain people, situations, interactions and places play in our levels of happiness.

There is no such thing as the perfect life that is happy all the time, however there is a level of contentment and inner peace that can be reached by understanding what takes our happiness & joy away and working to avoid, eliminate or understand more about this.

iv. Where would you have liked to have spent more time over the past 6 months

We all know time is precious.

Think about all of the key areas of your life from your Wheel of Life. 

Where would you have liked to have spent more time over the past 6 months?

Did you spend too much time in some areas and not enough in others? 

What areas would you have liked to have spent more time in?

How balanced is your life in terms of where you spend your time?

 

Step 3 of your Mid Year Review is all about what you learned in each of the key areas of your life over the past 6 months. 

The only way we grow and evolve as humans is by learning more and by turning these learnings into action that propels us forward. 

Going through each of the areas of your Wheel of Life (or using mine below) reflect on the questions below to understand what you learned over the past 6 months in all of the key areas of your life. 

Sense of Self –  What did you learn about yourself? How did you grow and evolve as a person? Have you dedicated time to personal development? What did you learn about your relationship with yourself, has your relationship with yourself improved?

Relationships – What did you learn about your relationship with others, has your relationship with others improved? Are there relationships you want but don’t have? Are there relationships you have but don’t want?

Health – What did you learn about your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health? Did your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health improve?

Work – What did you learn about your work? Are you growing and developing in your work? Has your work moved forward and improved?

Finance – What did you learn about personal finance? Did your personal finance improve?

Recreation – What did you learn about socialising and recreation? How can you bring more fun into your life?

Environment – What did you learn about your environment? Did your environment improve? For me environment relates to my home and also our planet, both are of immense importance to me and bring me happiness and joy.

Contribution – What did you learn about contribution?  Did you make the world a better place by giving your time, money or skills? Giving doesn’t have to be grand gestures, giving in the smallest possible way can often be the most impactful.

 

Step 4 of your Mid Year Review is about creating actions that will support you to live your best life every day and move you closer and closer to your goals

i. What can you build on in terms of your success?

Reflect on all your answers in Step 1.

What actions can you take over the next 6 months to ensure you build on the successes of the past 6 months?

ii. What can you build on in terms of the challenges you experienced?

Reflect on all your answers in Step 2.

What actions can you take over the next 6 months to ensure you build on the challenges from the past 6 months?

iii. What can you build on in terms of what you learned over the past 6 months?

Reflect on all your answers in Step 3.

What actions can you take over the next 6 months to ensure you build on and take advantage of the learnings from the past 6 months?

I wish you success, health and happiness as you look back at the past 6 months and even more success, health and happiness as you look forward to the next 6 months.

Happy reflection 😊

Siobhain 

x x

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My Journey Through the Stress Performance Curve

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The Stress Performance Curve is pretty self-explanatory, the more stressed we get the further along the curve we move. Here is an explanation of the different zones on the curve.   

 1. Boredom Zone

In the first zone there is very low stress and we are bored. Stay here too long and you will feel the effects of boreout which are just as dangerous as burnout. If you are in this zone in your life or work your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health is at risk. 

Performance in this zone is next to nothing.  

2. Comfort Zone

As our stress levels increase we move into our comfort zone, this is manageable stress and is on the way to peak performance. It is comfortable here but there is no growth and if you stay here too long, you will slip back into the boredom zone. 

Performance in this zone is higher than in the boredom zone but not at it’s best.  

3. Stretch Zone

As pressure & stress increases, we move into the stretch zone. This is where our minds & bodies are being stretched. You know that feeling when you’ve got a lot on your plate but you’re totally in control, you are busy but you are really enjoying it. 

This is the zone where your level of stress and your level of performance are at their optimal. This is where everyone wants to be – not stressed, not overloaded, not under pressure but challenged, stretched & at absolute peak performance.  

This is where we do our best work. 

This is where we live our best lives.

This is where our mind, body and soul are at optimum health. 

This is where we excel.

In a Lean Culture, this is where employees are the happiest, most productive and where we should aim to stay. When employees are working in this zone they are healthy, happy, engaged, committed, learning, problem solving and enjoying their roles. 

Businesses that support their employees to stay in this zone thrive. 

 

4. Strain Zone

As pressure and stress levels increase we now move into the strain zone. We no longer feel in control and we start to feel under pressure, overloaded, too much on our plate and it’s hard to see the wood from the trees. In this zone we are no longer operating an optimum level – our performance, interest, happiness, health and energy levels decrease and everything starts to go downhill. 

Performance in this zone is diminished and reduces every day you stay here. 

In this zone we have two choices. One – to continue with the workload, continue taking on pressure and stress and hope it somehow alleviates. This is not a wise choice and we just continue on the slippery slope towards burnout. 

The other choice is to STOP. 

Stop taking on work, stop taking on activities, stop taking on pressure & stress. Remove as much as we can from our workload. This is a very wise choice and as you start to remove items from your to-do list you will start to move backwards through the Stress Performance Curve. 

5. Burnout Zone

When you are in the strain zone and you continue you to take on activities/work and continue to add to your to-do list you will eventually end up in the the burnout zone. 

You may think you are getting loads done, that you are ploughing through stuff and you are on your A-game but you are not. You are now back to the level of performance that you were when you were in the boredom zone. 

Performance in this zone is next to nothing.

You may be getting things done but there is no time for thinking, no time for creativity, no time for imagination, no time for innovation, no time for rest, relaxation and recuperation, no time for anything only the to-do list. Whilst you are getting to your to-do list, the pace and quality of work is immensely diminished.

In this zone it’s fight or flight and that’s about it. 

Not only is this not sustainable but it is also dangerous to your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health. There is no enjoyment in what you are doing and you wondering is the to-do list ever going to end! You probably become irritable, unfulfilled, unhappy, unproductive and apathetic. 

This is a very real and dangerous place to find yourself in. 

If you are here, do everything you can to get out of this zone, your health is more at risk than you would imagine. 

The Stress Performance Curve is fascinating and the amount of time we spend in each of the zones and how long it takes us to go from one zone to another different for us all. 

Here is an insight into my journey through the Stress Performance Curve which I hope I never repeat:

In hindsight I probably started 2021 in the stretch zone. In 2020 I had taken on a serious amount of work outside of my day job and even through I absolutely loved every minute of it, I knew I was stretched.

In early 2021 I started doing webinars and launched my first online course ‘Kickstart Your Personal Strategy’ which is something I am very passionate about and was excited to teach it. I was spending lots of time writing/editing blog posts and on social media. Add this to a very busy day job on top of lockdown and it wasn’t long before I started to move into the strain zone.  

Of course all of this is in hindsight and in hindsight we have 20:20 vision!

For most of early 2021, I just felt under pressure all day everyday. There was too much my plate, I had committed to too much and I was working way too many hours. 

 Looking back at my journalling around that time, all of my healthy habits that I had spend years building to sustain balance in my life were gone. By the time April came around that was it I was in the burnout zone. 

If you’ve been burned out or are currently functioning in the burnout zone it is not a pretty place to be.

 it’s not enjoyable, it’s not happy, it’s not fulfilling, it’s not productive, it’s not anything that you would actually want for your life. In this zone everything becomes a challenge, the normal day-to-day activities like exercising, socialising, thinking straight –  it’s all so overwhelming. 

When I finally realised I was burned out I made the decision to STOP. I stopped everything except my day job, I stopped writing blog posts, I stopped creating content, I stopped doing webinars, I stopped social media.

I STOPPED. 

When you stop everything and remove workload from your plate, it doesn’t mean that you automatically go back to the optimal performance stretch zone. It takes time for your mind, body and soul to re-adjust, to get out of that fight or flight mode and to come back into some level of normality. 

As I started to move through the strain & stretch phase I finally found myself in the comfort phase. I had successfully removed enough from my plate that I felt comfortable with my workload again. 

Naively, I thought that was the end of my journey through the Stress Performance Curve but it wasn’t. I was now working on my day job only and not all of passions outside of work. This presented me with 2 problems. 

One, I missed writing & creating content etc but I knew I couldn’t take it all on again without going back to the burnout zone. 

Two, I was no longer enjoying my role at work and was operating in the boredom zone there. Operating here is just as detrimental to health as the strain & burnout zones. Even though I was busy, I was no longer doing work that challenged, excited or motivated me.

And so, I made the decision to leave my day job to focus solely on and build a business around my passions in life which are Lean Culture/Strategy, Writing & Travel Photography. 

Knowing about and understanding the symptoms of each of the zones of the Stress Performance Curve goes a long way to ensuring you stay in the stretch zone or at least not too far away from it!

Human beings are not machines, we all have limits and going past those limits damages our most valuable asset, our health! 

Where are you on the Stress Performance Curve? 

How long have you been there?

Are you aware when you are heading into the Strain and Burnout Zones?

Are you aware when you are heading into the Comfort and Boredom Zones?

How do you keep yourself at peak performance in the Stretch Zone? 

How do you keep your team and  business at peak performance in the Stretch Zone? 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ and sign up to my Weekly Newsletter below.

 

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The Stress Performance Curve

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The Stress Performance Curve is pretty self-explanatory, the more stressed we get the further along the curve we move. Here is an explanation of the different zones on the curve.   

 1. Boredom Zone

In the first zone there is very low stress and we are bored. Stay here too long and you will feel the effects of boreout which are just as dangerous as burnout. If you are in this zone in your life or work, your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health is at risk. 

Performance in this zone is next to nothing.  

2. Comfort Zone

As our stress levels increase we move into our comfort zone, this is manageable stress and is on the way to peak performance. It is comfortable here but there is no growth and if you stay here too long, you will slip back into the boredom zone. 

Performance in this zone is higher than in the boredom zone but not at it’s best.  

3. Stretch Zone

As pressure & stress increases, we move into the stretch zone. This is where our minds & bodies are being stretched. You know that feeling when you’ve got a lot on your plate but you’re totally in control, you are busy but you are really enjoying it. 

This is the zone where your level of stress and your level of performance are at their optimal. Everyone wants to be here – not stressed, not overloaded, not under pressure but challenged, stretched & at absolute peak performance.  

This is where we do our best work. 

This is where we live our best lives.

This is where our mind, body and soul are at optimum health. 

This is where we excel.

In a Lean Culture, this is where employees are the happiest, most productive and where we should aim to stay. When employees are working in this zone they are healthy, happy, engaged, committed, learning, problem solving and enjoying their roles. 

Businesses that support their employees to stay in this zone thrive. 

 

4. Strain Zone

As pressure and stress levels increase we now move into the strain zone. We no longer feel in control and we start to feel under pressure, overloaded, too much on our plate and it’s hard to see the wood from the trees. In this zone we are no longer operating an optimum level – our performance, interest, happiness, health and energy levels decrease and everything starts to go downhill. 

Performance in this zone is diminished and reduces every day you stay here. 

In this zone we have two choices. One – to continue with the workload, continue taking on pressure and stress and hope it somehow alleviates. This is not a wise choice and we just continue on the slippery slope towards burnout. 

The other choice is to STOP. 

Stop taking on work, stop taking on activities, stop taking on pressure & stress. Remove as much as we can from our workload. This is a very wise choice and as you start to remove items from your to-do list you will start to move backwards through the Stress Performance Curve. 

5. Burnout Zone

When you are in the strain zone and you continue you to take on activities/work and continue to add to your to-do list you will eventually end up in the the burnout zone. 

You may think you are getting loads done, that you are ploughing through stuff and you are on your A-game but you are not. You are now back to the level of performance that you were when you were in the boredom zone. 

Performance in this zone is next to nothing.

You may be getting things done but there is no time for thinking, no time for creativity, no time for imagination, no time for innovation, no time for rest, relaxation and recuperation, no time for anything only the to-do list. Whilst you are getting to your to-do list, the pace and quality of work is immensely diminished.

In this zone it’s fight or flight and that’s about it. 

Not only is this not sustainable but it is also dangerous to your mental, emotional, physical & spiritual health. There is no enjoyment in what you are doing and you wondering is the to-do list ever going to end! You probably become irritable, unfulfilled, unhappy, unproductive and apathetic. 

This is a very real and dangerous place to find yourself in. 

If you are here, do everything you can to get out of this zone, your health is more at risk than you would imagine. 

The Stress Performance Curve is fascinating and the amount of time we spend in each of the zones and how long it takes us to go from one zone to another different for us all. 

Knowing about and understanding the symptoms of each of the zones of the Stress Performance Curve goes a long way to ensuring you stay in the stretch zone or at least not too far away from it!

Human beings are not machines, we all have limits and going past those limits damages our most valuable asset, our health! 

In my next blog post I give you an insight into ‘My Journey through the Stress Performance’. 

Where are you on the Stress Performance Curve? 

How long have your been there?

Are you aware when you are heading into the Strain and Burnout Zones?

Are you aware when you are heading into the Comfort and Boredom Zones?

How do you keep yourself at peak performance in the Stretch Zone? 

How do you keep your team and your business at peak performance in the Stretch Zone? 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ and sign up to my Weekly Newsletter below.

 

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The Importance of Time Off

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The Power of Time Off

Image Credit: Stefan Sagmeister’s Time Off timeline

In October 2021 I left my job without another which for many reasons was the right decision for me albeit a difficult one to make. I had planned to take a break to the end of 2021 and then set up my own business in early 2022.

Then I watched Stefan Sagmeister’s Ted Talk and the direction of my life changed completely.

That was almost 3 years ago now and Stefan’s video still has the huge impact on my life , just ike it did when I first watched it. 

Stefan Sagmeister runs a design studio in New York and every 7 years he closes it for a year to pursue some little experiments, things that are always difficult to accomplish during the regular working year. In this year Stefan and his team are not available to any of their clients as they are totally closed.’

Stefan refers to this time as a ‘A LOVELY AND VERY ENERGETIC TIME’.

That’s it, 30 seconds into this Ted Talk I was hooked. All plans of setting up and running my own business faded from my mind.

I wanted this time, I wanted ‘A LOVELY AND VERY ENERGETIC TIME’ just as Stefan had described. 

Stefan is very lucky to work on his passions of music & design but outlines that after a while even this can get boring and everything starts to look the same. This is true for any work we do, even if it is something we are deeply passionate about. We need variety and we need to be learning to nurture & fuel our creativity & innovation, keeping our work fresh & exciting. 

Below is Stefan’s genius idea in a timeline.

Stefan explains we spend roughly the first 25 years of our lives learning in some form of education, we spend roughly the next 40 years working and if we are lucky enough, we spend roughly the next 15 years in retirement.

Stefan takes 5 of these retirement years and disperses them throughout his working life – GENIUS! 

Stefan explains that this is clearly enjoyable for him but also the work that comes out of this year flows back into his company and society at large and so is beneficial to everyone. 

Stefan outlines some of the creative ideas & success that he and other companies such as 3M and Google have had by giving their employees time to creatively pursue whatever they want. It is this creativity that keeps people FRESH, CREATIVE & INNOVATIVE. 

It is this FRESHNESS, CREATIVITY & INNOVATION that differentiates companies that grow & succeed from companies that regress & fail. 

Thankfully this creative time allowed Art Fry to develop the Post-It while working with 3M! Anyone who knows me well knows my obsession with Post-Its! 

After 30 seconds of his Ted Talk, Stefan had inspired me to take TIME OFF.

  • Time to spend with loved ones, time to learn, time to focus on all the things I wasn’t getting to while I was working
  • Time to enjoy this ‘LOVELY AND ENERGETIC TIME’, time to fuel and nurture my creativity & innovation
  • Time to do whatever it is that I want to do

I’m currently almost 3 years into my TIME OFF and even though I didn’t plan  it to be so long, this TIME OFF has been an amazing gift. 

Is there something you want to take TIME OFF FROM?

Do you take time to nurture & fuel your CREATIVITY & INNOVATION?

How much time do you spend pursuing what you want to pursue?

Download your FREE EBOOK The A-Z of Effective Change below and you are all signed up to my weekly newsletter where I share thoughts and resources on all things effective change 😊

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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