Gear up for the new year with outcome-creating intention.
A new year. New beginnings. There is so much energy and enthusiasm around the beginning of the new year and all that can be achieved. The possibilities are intoxicating if not simply overwhelming!
A lot happens in a year. We can be so influenced by the big events that dominate the headline of our lives and forget the little things that get us through from one day to the next. A pause offers the opportunity to think about what you have accomplished and learned. To think about what you are ready to let go of and what you want to create for yourself in the upcoming year.
Below is the tool we use to help our clients close out the past year, with a focus on pausing to reflect and learn, and gear up for the new year with outcome-creating intention.
Exercise: Completing One Year and Creating the Next
Step 1: Complete this last year
- What are you grateful for?
- What are you proudest of?
- What did you learn about yourself?
- What was meaningful about this year, and why?
- What do you need to feel complete for this year?
Step 2: Create This Year
“Questioning is perhaps the most powerful pause of all. Questioning is the “art of seeking new possibilities,” the language of coaching, the language of innovation, and the language of dealing with complexity and crises.” – Kevin Cashman
- What is your vision for the best possible outcome for this year?
- What excites you about this vision?
- How does having this vision change how you are going to approach this year?
- What do you want more of, and what would that give you?
- What do you want less of, and what would that give you?
- How can you find time for a daily pause? What will help you to turn down the noise and connect with yourself?
- What single word or phrase do you want to create an intention around?
When going through this exercise you may find it hard to decide! Many of us have so much we want to do, how do we narrow it down? What goals are most important and how do you make those choices? It is also about what is in your control. For instance, you might want to keep your job. So, what is under that? Financial stability. So, how do you create more financial stability for yourself? The answer might be leaving your job because it feels unstable. How do you decide? Keep asking “What do I want?” And how can you get specific about that? This requires going a bit deeper.
Here is the trick for drilling down on what you REALLY want when answering the above questions, and when faced with any big decision that feels overwhelming.
After you answer each question, ask yourself:
- “What’s important about that?”
- And then “what’s important about THAT?”
- And “what’s important about THAT?”
And again and again until you feel satisfied that you’ve explored the depths of your goals. By the time you’ve examined your decision this deeply, you can confidently know you are being intentional about what you want to create for this bright shiny new year.
Happy 2023 to all of you and our best wishes for creating a meaningful year!
Kate & Debbie
