Tag Archives: Wheel of Life

Annual Review 2023

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In the Lean world we carry out an Annual Hansei which is Japanese for annual self reflection.

Annual self reflection allows us to reflect on what has worked well in the past year so we can celebrate & build on the successes.

It also allows us to reflect on what didn’t work well in the past year so we can adjust & change direction.

I will be happy to see the end of 2023.

2023 has by far been the hardest and most challenging year of my life.

My beloved and adored Dad was really ill in early 2023 and passed away on 6th August. Because of this immense loss, no challenging time before 2023 even came close to the heartache and sadness of 2023.

I reached very few goals in 2023 which was similar to 2021 & 2022. This has made me realise that no matter how much we plan, the path that is meant for us will always be the path we travel.

This path is not necessarily what we plan for!

Whatever 2023 brought you, I hope you find time to reflect on your year, leave behind what doesn’t serve you and bring into 2024 everything that supports & nurtures you.

I use the Wheel of Life below to categorise my life. The categories of my life are Sense of Self, Relationships, Health, Work, Finance, Recreation, Environment & Contribution.

When reflecting on your year, you can use these categories or create some of your own.

Here is my Annual Review for 2023.

1. Relationships:

My beloved Dad passed away on August 6th 2023. That day was the worst day of my life and every day since has been a real challenge. I miss Dad every minute of every day.

Dad was a great man, a great Dad, everything about him was just great.

I got to spend a huge amount of time with my Dad in his last months and I was by his side during his illness. It’s hard to express just how grateful and blessed I am for this precious time, as well as the previous 49 years we had together.

My awareness of how precious time is was heightened this year as I was reminded that our time is not finite, we don’t have a never ending supply of time.

One day our time with those we love runs out! One day our own time runs out!

Everything else in 2023 paled into insignificance for me. My priority was my Dad and now my priority is learning to live with his physical absence.

The loss of a loved one changes everything.

I’m different, my world is different, my perspective on the world is different.

Everything is different.

2. Sense of Self:

In 2023 I added ‘Sense of Self’ to the categories of my life.

In 2023 personal development which I had been doing for decades was no longer working for me. Personal strategy which I had been doing for over a decade was no longer working for me.

I knew I needed something more meaningful and impactful.

Sense of Self combines my story, spirituality, 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.

Here is where I also work on the concepts of self love, self worth, self esteem, self belief, self trust, self confidence, self assurance, self understanding, self respect, self awareness and self observation.

2023 was a very challenging year for me and I feel my Sense of Self was on shaky ground. This shaky ground probably started a few years ago but 2023 made it even more unstable.

In saying that, the challenges of 2023 brought me immense personal growth & learnings. These learnings and personal growth have been very difficult and painful – the saying ‘no pain no gain’ comes to mind!

3. Health:

There is no truer saying than health is wealth, 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 & 2023 I watched loved ones deal with ill health which was really challenging and reinforced the importance of dedicating time & energy to learning about and improving our physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health.

2023 was challenging for me in all areas of my health and I didn’t reach any of the goals I set for myself. I actually went backwards in terms of most of my health goals.

In March, I injured my back skiing and that injury stayed with me all year albeit improving bit by bit throughout the year.

The loss of my Dad greatly impacted my health. I don’t fully comprehend how but I am working to understand this.

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

4. Work:

I currently spend the least time in this category which is ironic as for 25 years it was where I spent the most time!

Work has changed dramatically for me over the past few years. I left my day job in October 2021 and wanted to set up own business but life had other plans for me!

I took time off and am still on time off!

This time off work has been life changing.

No job, salary or money can compete with how precious this time has been.

Having this time off work in 2023 meant I had a huge amount of time with my Dad during the last stage of his life – that time was the most precious gift of my entire life.

One of my writing goals for 2023 was to improve my writing.

At the beginning of 2023 I had become unhappy and disillusioned with my writing and had written many blog posts & emails that will never see the light of day. They are my writing and my words but they did not align with who I am and with the type of writing I want to do.

My writing did not adequately reflect how my life has changed in the past few years and how I have evolved as a person.

I wanted my writing to be richer, deeper, more meaningful, and more impactful for me and for you, the reader

Also I wanted to write more from a place of transparency & openness to see where it takes me

My writing is definitely on it’s way to being richer, deeper, more meaningful, more transparent and more open but it is a journey, possibly one that will last as long as I continue to write.

Another one of my writing goals for 2023 was to write more.

I am for the first time in my life, writing more than I am sharing. This is a huge milestone for me and means because as I write more, I can write better!

This has been a dream of mine for a very long time.

In terms of work I still want to set up my own business, I’m just not ready yet.

At some stage I will need to think about how to balance my precious time off with the writing I want to do but for the moment I’m just going to continue to enjoy the balance I currently have.

5. 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 2023 I changed much of my financial landscape. I wanted to simplify & streamline my finances to make them work better for me.

Renovating and selling an investment property in 2023 will allow me to make more diverse financial decisions in 2024.

I completed a number of smaller financial projects which were all aimed at streamlining my finances and moving step by step towards financial freedom.

My top 3 financial learnings of 2022 stand firm for 2023 also,

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.

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 also about love, time, health, freedom and everything else that money cannot buy.

The abundance of love, time, health & freedom brings me more joy than any amount of money ever could!

Time is more valuable than money – this is not a learning but a teaching from Jim Rohn. Jim’s 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.

6. Recreation:

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 – these people are food for my soul!

I spent much time in 2023 with my Dad who always made me laugh. My Dad had a brilliant sense of humour which my brother’s and I each inherited some of.

My Dad and I and always laughed and joked when in each other’s company. Even through his illness and last days, he was smiling and joking and reminding us how important it is to laugh and keep things light!

Mike and I also share the same sense of humour and so our home is always filled with much laughter of which I am immensely grateful for.

I didn’t have much of a social life in 2023 which suited where my life was in 2023. Maybe I’ll be a little more social in 2024 – who knows!

7. Environment:

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

In 2022 I started decluttering our home using the techniques in Marie Kondo’s brilliant book ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’. I continued with this in 2023 however implementing these techniques took way longer than I had thought and so it will continue well into 2024.

I’m a minimalist in that I don’t have or need much stuff but I only realised how much stuff I actually have when I started to declutter it!

8. Contribution:

I continue to give to charities, albeit not at the level I would have when I was working.

In 2023 I became more aware of the contribution I make to the world in terms of my time & skills and the contributions I make which aren’t monetary. We all contribute to the world in so many ways that we don’t even notice, this has been an unexpected education for me!

That’s it, my 2023 in review.

I am happy to say goodbye to 2023, it was a year of immense pain, heartache and loss.

Thank you for reading my blog posts and your kind words during 2023, I really appreciate your support.

I hope whatever 2023 brought you that you can build on & learn from it. May 2024 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

3 Steps To Your Annual Review

This is the 11th year I have shared my Annual Review here on my blog, my previous Annual Reviews can be found here,

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

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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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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:

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.

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:

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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Annual Review 2021

Relationships:

As always, Mike, my family and my friends are my reason for everything. and the source of much of my happiness. Similarly to 2020, even though we were in lockdown and in varying degrees of restrictions, I spent loads of time with Mike and my family in 2021. Working from home, removing the long commute from my day and working reduced hours gave me precious time to spend with those I love.

Everything has a silver lining, for me this was definitely the silver lining for 2020 & 2021, more quality time with loved ones and less rushing & racing around trying to get everything done.

I will be bringing this slower, less stressful, more peaceful way of life with me into 2022.

Similar to most people, I didn’t get abroad in 2021 but I did enjoy many day trips with family & friends and spent lots of time with family in my hometown of Kilfinane which was lovely. I also attended my friend’s Fiona & Trevor’s wedding (as photographer) which was amazing and I had a few days away after that.

Here’s hoping the world becomes safer so we can travel freely in 2022 and enjoy holidays & weekends away with loved ones again!

Health is Wealth:

There is no truer saying than health is wealth.

In 2021 my loved ones remained safe and healthy which is the greatest gift of all. I hope you and your loved ones remained safe during 2021, we have more work to do to ensure this in 2022

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. 2021 was challenging for me in all areas of my health and I didn’t reach any of the goals I set for myself. Healthy habits I had spent years building were broken and I have much work to do to embed them again.

I suffered serious burnout early in 2021 which pretty much negatively impacted the rest of 2021 for me. This was due to working a day job and trying to build a business on the side – lesson learned! Following this, I stopped working on my writing & business for most of 2021 and took a break from social media for about 8 months.

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

Here’s to a healthy 2022 in Mind, Body & Soul for us all!

Finance:

Every year I learn more and more about personal finance and every year 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 2021 my entrepreneur income (outside my day job) was more than ever! 8% of my income came from entrepreneur work and 3 separate income streams which was very exciting!

In contrast to this, my earnings were the lowest they have been in a very long time. I was on reduced hours due to the pandemic and then I left my day job in October, without another job. For a million reasons this was the best decision for me, albeit a difficult one.

I am a born optimist and so always find a silver lining. In leaving my day job, what I have lost in income I have gained in the precious resource of time. Where and with who I spend this valuable resource means more to me than anything money can buy.

Ironically when I left my day job, my income reduced but I felt more abundant in so many other areas of my life. This taught me that abundance is not just about money – it is also about love, time, health, freedom and everything else that money cannot buy.

Work/Business/Purpose:

In 2021 everything changed immensely for me in terms of my work, writing & business.

I got very serious about setting up my own business early in 2021 and with the support of my moach (mentor & coach) Natalie Sisson and her 10K Club I realised many firsts in my business.

I launched and delivered my first 6 week online course of which I loved every minute of. I held my first free webinar and my first paid webinars. I was interviewed on Natalie Sisson’s podcast and Sharon Singh Sidhu’s podcast which were my very first podcasts. I ran my first 5 day email challenge which was not very successful but was an abundance of lessons learned. I co-started the Women in Lean (WIL) Personal Strategy Table with Debbie Barnard. WIL is an amazing group of Women in Lean founded by Karyn Ross and Dorsey Sherman where we share our knowledge, thoughts, wins & challenges of being part of the wonderful world of Lean.

In Q1, all of the above on top of a day job resulted in me taking on way too much work and getting seriously burnt out. This was awful and I felt the effects of it in every area of my life for the rest of the year.

As mentioned above, I left my day job in October, without another job. This was not an easy decision but it was the right decision for me at the time. Following this, what I had in income was replaced with the precious resource of time.

I had time to myself, time for those I love, time to think, plan, dream and be, time to close projects, time to write, time to schedule social media posts, time to do what brings me joy fulfilment and happiness. After I left work I had so much time for writing and loved every minute of it, writing makes me blissfully happy.

One constant in my work in 2021 was my weekly email to those on my mailing list. I am so grateful to everyone who has signed up for this weekly email as without knowing it they were a flashlight when the light at the end of the professional tunnel was very dim.

If you want to sign up to my mailing list and receive my weekly email, download your free ebook linked in the image below and you’ll be signed up.

Another constant throughout 2021 was the support of my small but mighty team. Debbie, Madhuri and Mugdha are a dream to work with and supported me more than they can realise in 2021.

Over the past few years I have missed Travel Photography so much. In 2022 I am going to reenergise my passion for Travel Photography and am very much looking forward to this – watch this space.

2021 brought so much change in my professional world – some planned but mostly unplanned. I have realised that life is a bit like this, no matter how much we plan, the path that is meant for us (not necessarily the path we plan) will always be the path we travel!

Personal Development:

Reading physical books is one of my favourite things to do. I love audiobooks but there is nothing more relaxing than sitting with a physical book and immersing myself in it’s wisdom.

Here’s a list of books I read & loved in 2021 and highly recommend. Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and The Power of Intention and Wishes Fulfilled by Dr Wayne Dyer (RIP), Start with Why by Simon Sinek, The Greatest Salesman by Og Mandino, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, The 5 Invitations by Frank Ostaseski, The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, Ranger 22 by Ray Goggins, The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, Ikigai by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles.

‘Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn’ (hard copy & audible) was my absolute favourite book of 2021. Lean is a business philosophy that I follow both professionally & personally. Every year I am more aware of the power & necessity of a Lean culture/strategy in business and the importance of growing people to grow business. Katie’s book ‘‘Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn’ absolutely nails the philosophy of people centric leadership & business. If you are in leadership & business of any kind, I highly recommend Katie’s book.

I completed the Certificate in Business & Executive Coaching and loved every minute of it. The biggest learning I took from it is that life coaching, while designed to support others, is really a journey of self discovery. If you don’t take that journey yourself, you can’t support others to do so!

In 2020/2021, I bought many online courses but didn’t have the time to dedicate to all of them. Now I’m not working, I’ll have plenty time to go through all these courses and am looking forward to it all.

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!

Reflection on this category of my life is short and sweet which kind of sums up my social life!!!

Environment:

This category for me is about the planet and also our beautiful home.

Mike and I cleared out our spare room so I could have a home office. It’s all set up with my Visual Management boards and I absolutely love it.

Even though I have read Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ I seem to be continuously clearing clutter! I haven’t carried out Marie’s technique to banish clutter for once and or all – maybe 2022 is the year for that!

Contribution:

I have been supporting 4 main charities for many years and year on year I try to give more to each charity. Charities have been severely impacted by the global pandemic and so need our support more than ever.

That’s it, my 2021 in review.

Thank you for reading my blog posts and your kind words during 2021, I really appreciate your support. I hope whatever 2021 brought you that you can build on & learn from it to make 2022 your best year ever.

May 2022 bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace & prosperity.

Thanks for reading, stay safe,

Siobhain

x x x

Want to carry out your own Annual Review? Below is a list of blog posts designed to support you with your annual review, you can download your ‘Annual Review Workbook’ below also.

5 Reasons To Prioritise Your Annual Review

5 Steps To Your Annual Review

Get SERIOUS about your Intentions and Goals for 2022

My previous annual reviews can be found below,

Annual Review 2013 Annual Review 2014 Annual Review 2015 Annual Review 2016

Annual Review 2017 Annual Review 2018 Annual Review 2019

Annual Review 2020

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