Tag Archives: Personal Strategy

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.

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?

Create my Personal Strategy for 2023
Carry out daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual plans and reviews
Journal daily and weekly (daily journaling is a game changer in terms of self awareness)
Spend sufficient time in solitude – I’m an introvert and so solitude is as important to me as oxygen is!
Read physical books and give away books I no longer need
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

*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

Progress on all Sense of Self concepts & learning
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?

Where I am on the Stress Performance Curve & the Emotional Scale
Health metrics of BMI, Weight, Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Bloods,
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?

Progress in large and mini projects
Monitor & document total spend which is Detailed spend, Capital spend, Business spend
Monitor & document total financial value which is Profit, Property & Pensions
Monitor & document total Earnings & Debt
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

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

Writing

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

Income

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

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?

Progress in creating more time to write, read and create content
Progress in my Lean Business Strategy
Mailing list metrics & engagement
Progress in Digital 5S Project
Progress in Travel Photography work
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?

Spend time with loved ones who make me smile & laugh and bring me so much joy
Be more aware of everyday activities that bring me joy and do more of them
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?

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?

Progress in Marie Kondo’s decluttering on our home.
Progress in decorating our home with the support of an interior designer
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?

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.
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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3 Steps To Your Annual Review

Here’s a few tips on preparing for your Annual Review.

Print your Annual Review Workbook (you can download it at the end of this blog post) – you can also use a journal/notebook or an online document. I document my Annual Review in Moleskine journals and use Google Suite tools for online documentation throughout the year.

Schedule time in your busy calendar – I usually take about 3 days to do this. That may sound like a lot of time but it is time well spent when you think of the amount you will learn. No matter how long this takes you, the most important thing is that you schedule and take this time for yourself.

Refer to your Wheel of Life as you answer each question – keep in mind the key areas of your life in your Wheel of 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, Health, Relationships, Work, Finance, Social Life, Environment & Contribution.

Step 1 is reflection on what went well in 2024

1: What worked well for you in 2024?

What did you enjoy?

Did your plans work out how you wanted or better?

There are so many blessings in our lives each and every day.

If you focus on the small stuff first you may see that life goes your way more than you may realise – the small stuff really is the big stuff!

2: What did you do that supported this success?

How did you bring success into your life?

There are so many things in our lives that we cannot control and so it’s best to just focus on what you can control.

The only person who has control over your life is YOU and the only life you can control is YOUR OWN.

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

3. What brought you joy and happiness in 2024?

When were you at your happiest in 2024?

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you? Knowing what brings us happiness allows us to bring more happiness and joy into our lives.

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.

4. Are you happy with where you spent your time in 2024?

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 in 2024?

Are you happy with where your time was spent in 2024?

Did you fully enjoy every minute of every day?

That’s Step 1 of your Annual Review done!

Step 2 is reflection on what didn’t go well in 2024

1. What didn’t go well in 2024?

When did your plans not work out in 2024?

What happened that you didn’t enjoy?

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.

In his book ‘Green Lights’, Matthew Mc Conaughey 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.

2. What challenges got in your way?

Were there challenges that got in your way in 2024?

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

What can you do to eliminate these challenges?

If you can’t eliminate the challenges, how can you think about them differently?

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

3. What didn’t bring you joy and happiness in 2024?

Happiness and unhappiness go hand in hand – no human life is devoid of unhappiness.

Acceptance of this goes a long way to find out what exactly makes us unhappy.

When were you at your unhappiest in 2024?

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.

What did you do to understand and alleviate your unhappiness?

4. Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2024?

As mentioned above, we all know time is 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.

Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2024?

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

That’s Step 2 of your Annual Review done!

Step 3 is reflection on what you learned in all areas of your life in 2024

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

Work through the categories of your life in your Wheel of life and ask yourself the following questions,

Sense of Self – what did you learn about yourself? How did you grow and evolve as a person? Did you dedicate enough time to personal development?

Relationships – what did you learn about your relationship with yourself? Has your relationship with yourself improved? What did you learn about your relationship with others? Has your relationship with others improved?

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

Work – what did you learn about your work? Are you growing and developing in your work? Does your work improve your life? Does your work disimprove your life?

Finance – what did you learn about finance? Did your financial situation improve? Did your financial situation disimprove?

Social Life/Recreation – what did you learn about socialising and recreation? Did you have enough fun & recreation?

Environment – what did you learn about your environment ? Did your environment improve or disimprove? 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 give more to the world in terms of your time, money or skills? Did you make the world a better place by giving more? Giving doesn’t have to be grand gestures, giving in the smallest possible way can often be the most impactful.

That’s Step 3 of your Annual Review done!

I wish you SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look back at 2024 and even more SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look forward to 2025.

Download your ANNUAL REVIEW WORKBOOK below to support you with your Annual Review.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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5 Reasons to Prioritise Your 12 Week Review

BUT FIRST – WHY!

WHY should you carry out a 12 Week Review?

Simon Sinek is famous for his brilliant TED Talk ‘How great leaders inspire action’ with over 13 million views on YouTube. In this video, Simon talks about the importance of knowing your ‘WHY’ in terms of everything you do.

When it comes to everything in your life, your WHY is the first step to success!

Here are 5 reasons WHY I think your 12 Week Review deserves to be your priority,

1. It slows you down and gives you time & space to think

We live in an extremely fast paced world and we seem to be so busy all the time.

Reflection of any kind allows us to stop moving forward, to be still in the present moment and to give the necessary time and space required to learn from the past.

Not to dwell on or judge the past, but to take the learnings from it to move forward with more knowledge, focus, intention, purpose, motivation & understanding of what our priorities are.

When was the last time you took a few hours to look back and reflect on your life & work?

Do you give yourself the gift of sufficient time & space to reflect regularly and learn from reflection?

2. It allows you to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate your successes

Do you celebrate all your wins & successes or do you move through life at the speed of light, not acknowledging, appreciating and celebrating your success?

We make progress in our lives & work all day EVERY SINGLE DAY yet we are sometimes so busy & focused on getting things done that we don’t see all of these wins and successes.

Carrying out your 12 Week Review gives you the time and space to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate the progress you have made in the past 12 weeks.

This in turn will get you thinking about all of the amazing wins and successes you have EVERY SINGLE DAY of which we all have so many.

3. It allows you to understand what contributes to your success and take action to create more

There are many reasons why we are successful at some things and not so successful at others.

Have you ever sat down and reflected on your successes and really thought about how they happened.

Was it something you did?

Was it something you got support with?

Was it something that happened quickly or something that took a long time?

Was it a bit of pot luck or did you plan meticulously for it?

When we understand what contributes to our success, we can replicate & build on this to bring us more success.

Success has a different meaning for everyone as we all live different lives, are at different stages and have different priorities.

Reflecting on success supports you to learn more about exactly what success means to you so you can create an action plan that will build on the success you already enjoy!

4. It allows you to acknowledge challenges that got in the way of your success

Things don’t always work out how we plan or how we want them to.

Even the best plans don’t work out, this is a normal part of life and work.

Acknowledging your challenges/obstacles is the first step to learning about them and overcoming them.

This in turn ensures you don’t come up against them again and if you do, you are better prepared.

Sometimes we don’t want to face our challenges/obstacles let alone reflect on and review them, however it is from our challenges/obstacles that we can learn so much and grow and evolve as human beings!

5. It allows you to understand what contributed to these challenges and turn these into successes

Challenges and obstacles are a normal part of life and work, it is how we deal with them that determines our ability to overcome them.

Understanding what caused the challenges and obstacles goes a long way to dealing with and overcoming them in a healthy way.

Challenges/obstacles are a constant companion on the road to your goals and are your stepping stones to success. Llearning from them makes stepping over those stones that bit easier!

Taking action from what you learn will turn challenges/obstacles into opportunities!

What can you learn from the challenges you experienced over the past 12 weeks?

What action can you take to turn your challenges into successes?

That’s it, the 5 Reasons to Prioritise Your 12 Week Review.

I wish you success, health and happiness as you look back at the past 12 weeks and even more success, health and happiness as you look forward to the next 12 weeks 😊

Do you want to bring more positive & effective change into your life?

Linked below are 26 ways you can start creating (and embracing) positive & effective change in your life and business today 😊

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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The Priority Matrix

Here is how the ‘Priority Matrix’ works.

The matrix is divided into 4 quadrants determined by varying degrees of urgency and importance.

Only one of these quadrants will move us closer to our goals.

Only one quadrant will PRIORITISE OUR PROGRESS.

1. Important and Urgent

These are tasks that require immediate attention, they must be done asap.

These can be deadlines, crises, problems that need immediate solutions, emergencies, last minute tasks.

Only tasks that require your immediate attention should go into this quadrant.

Care is required to ensure you do not spend all of time in this quadrant as this quadrant is basically FIRE FIGHTING.

You will be VERY BUSY in this quadrant but you will be making LITTLE TO NO PROGRESS towards your goals!

This quadrant does not prioritise YOUR progress towards YOUR goals.

2. Important and Not Urgent

These are long term tasks that contribute to your business & personal strategy.

These tasks move you closer to YOUR GOALS.

They are not urgent tasks but must be planned and scheduled to run the business or live the life you want for yourself.

These are strategy planning, strategy review, goal setting, continuous Improvement, problem solving, learning and personal development.

This is the most important quadrant and you should be spending AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE here.

THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND HERE, the more PRODUCTIVE, SUCCESSFUL & HAPPY you will be.

This quadrant prioritises YOUR progress towards YOUR goals.

3. Not Important and Urgent

These are tasks that deliver VERY LITTLE VALUE in terms of your goals.

These are interruptions, problems that do not belong to you, non-relevant phone calls/meetings/e-mails.

The best thing to do with these tasks is to either delegate or decline them.

They may need to get done, but don’t necessarily need to get done by you.

In this case delegate asap.

If you can’t delegate, it’s also ok to decline and say no to these time wasting activities.

It’s best to spend as LITTLE TIME AS POSSIBLE here.

This quadrant does not prioritise YOUR progress towards YOUR goals.

4. Not Important and Not Urgent

These are tasks that deliver NO VALUE AT ALL in terms of your goals but can be enjoyable and used for entertainment and relaxation purposes.

These are watching tv, scrolling social media, video games, surfing the net, needless phone calls/meetings/e-mails.

Watching tv, scrolling social media, video games and surfing the net can be very enjoyable and they are wonderful ways to relax but they are entertainment – unless you work for Netflix etc!

It’s a matter of balancing these enjoyable, entertaining activities with time spent in quadrant 2!

This quadrant does not prioritise YOUR progress towards YOUR goals.

That’s it, the Priority Matrix is a pretty simple tool yet incredibly effective and powerful.

What quadrant do you spend most of your time in?
Where would you like to spend more time?
Where would you like to spend less time?

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Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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