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 | Mindful Reflection: A Prerequisite to Setting Annual Goals |
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The beginning of the year brings about many rituals for individuals and business teams throughout the world. Beyond the traditional rituals that the holiday season brings, the ritual of “mindful reflection” is a critical one to observe. Whether you are working as one, or within a larger team, the exercise of reflecting allows us to celebrate our successes, learn from our disappointments, and help determine the direction we wish to go in the new year. The term reflection comes from the Latin word, ‘reflectere’ -- meaning "to bend back." This idea of ‘bending back’ to see what we have done this past year will help bridge the gap between our experiences and the lessons we need to learn from them. These lessons from the past can only make us better if we choose to apply them in the new year. The steps below will guide you through a year-end reflective process. Step 1: List all of the roles you play as an individual or team member. Examples could be manager, teacher, coach, employee, volunteer, citizen, parent, co-worker, parishioner, etc. Step 2: After identifying each role, rate how effectively you fulfilled them. Score yourself between 1(low) to 10 (high). Step 3: After you rate each of the identified roles, begin to identify what made you score them the way you did. What accomplishments did you have in that role over the last year? What disappointments did you encounter? This step is critical, because it forces you to think about the way you think about your life. Step 4: When you have interpreted your reason(s), begin to identify the lessons you learned this year within each role. These lessons can become your guidelines for the new year. Write down at least three lessons that you’d like to take into the next year. Now that you have written lessons for the next year, lets also document your goals. Be sure to make your goals very specific and measurable. In that way you’ll know exactly where you’re going and how to measure your progress in getting there. Here's to a successful and prosperous 2009! Written by Scott Winter and Eric Ryan |