Season’s Greetings!

Wow, what could we even possibly say about the year each of us has just experienced? I have a few in mind, but I’ll keep it PC. I also know that we’ve still got quite a road ahead of us…

A part of what I’ve experienced this year is that I’ve learned much about myself, my priorities and even my aspirations for the year (and beyond!) ahead as I’ve balanced work, family priorities, and the ever-changing landscape that 2020 has offered to me/us.

As I try to do every year, I’m fortunate to be taking some time away from work to spend with my immediate family (no travel this year), reflect and be grateful for the lessons learned during 2020, and to begin dreaming about 2021. I hope you’ll be able to do the same.

It has been an honor to work with and be with you through our coaching sessions and development initiatives. I’m honored that you would reserve your time and energy throughout 2020 to grow and develop yourself, and I greatly appreciate your trust in me as your coach. Trust me when I say that our sessions and interactions have provided me with many benefits, because I’ve learned from you as well!

I give you one last challenge to consider as we approach the end of the year:

·       Make a 30-60 minute “date” with yourself.
·       Find a quiet place, a choice beverage, and bring your journal.
·       Below are some questions to reflect on and write about – choose one, a few, or all of them to generate some thoughts, gratitude and acknowledgement about how you’ve grown over the past year, while also dreaming and setting an intention for the year ahead. Thanks to my colleague Shelley for the inspiration behind most of these questions!

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTING ON A YEAR OF LEARNING AND GROWTH

This Year:

What did I accomplish?
What impact did I have on individuals, teams, and my organization?
What adversity did I face this year?
- What parts of the adversity were out of my control?
- How did I make it through the adversity? How did I thrive?
- What resources did I leverage? Be specific.
- What resources do I wish I had leveraged? Be specific.
What did I learn? What did I learn through coaching?
What did I learn about myself?
What evidence—or “deliverables”—do I have for any of these learnings or impacts?

Next Year:

What are my hopes and intentions for this new year?
How can this new year help me lay the foundations for things to come?
How do I want to be in this year? Who do I want to become?
How can I make time for restoration and creativity?
Which relationships do I really want to establish? Grow? Maintain?
What do I really want to remember when I reflect back in a year from now?
What will make this next year hard?
What is my strategy for addressing these “hard things?”

2021 won’t drive itself – let’s all be intentional about creating and renewing ourselves so that, when we get to this time next year, we can see how we’ve each taken the initiative to become an even better version of ourselves. Speaking of which, I’ll be kicking off a workshop in late January/early February called “Hero On a Mission”. If you’re looking to be intentional not only with 2021, but your life, this workshop is for you. Feel free to forward along to any colleagues who may benefit. You can find more information and sign up here: https://www.anchoredleadership.com/hero.

Grateful for you – all that you do, but more importantly for who you are.

Jason