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The past year has been a year of “more” for many; more time back in the office, more time back on planes, more pressure from more and more stakeholders resulting from multiple disruptive forces.

If you want to use the holidays to do some simple but impactful reflection and refocusing before launching into the new year, then this blog is for you. Just block some quite time, grab your favorite notebook, and work through the five clusters of questions below.

PURPOSE
Every great reflection process starts with your sense of purpose. Regardless of your goals at any given time, your purpose guides your actions, informs your decisions and provides meaning to your experiences.
• To reflect; How purposeful have you felt in the past year? Why?
• To refocus; What shifts could you make in the year ahead to feel more purposeful?

VALUES
What you say that you value, and what you actually prioritize, are often two different things. The simplest way to become conscious of what you value, is to look at how you actually spend your time right now. If you want to feel a sense of congruence, the key is to create greater alignment between your values and actions.
• To reflect; What have you prioritized in the past year? Why? How aligned were your priorities with your espoused values?
• To refocus; What must you prioritize in the year ahead to align more closely with your espoused values? What must you de-prioritize?

ACHIEVEMENTS
Your achievements provide the most tangible evidence of your progress, especially in a professional context. If you’re reading this blog, chances are that you’re the type of person who likes to set goals and deliver results, so your achievements will be critical to your sense of confidence, energy, and agency.
• To reflect; What did you achieve in the past year? Why? How satisfied are you with your achievements?
• To refocus; What are the three greatest achievements you will target for the year ahead?

RELATIONSHIPS
Achievements are great, but they’re much sweeter when you can share them with others. After all, you’re a human being not a human doing. Your relationships – both personal and professional – have a profound impact on your sense of wellbeing, and ultimately what you can accomplish.
• To reflect; Who consumed most of your time in the past year? Why? How do you feel about who you prioritized?
• To refocus; If you’re to align more closely with your purpose, values and goals, who must you prioritize in the year ahead? Who must you de-prioritize?

LEARNING
Everything in nature is growing or dying – there’s nothing in between. To live your purpose, align with your values, achieve your goals and sustain your relationships, it’s very likely that you need to keep growing too.
• To reflect; What were the big things you learned in the past year? How satisfied are you with what you learnt? How well did you embed this learning into your habits and practices?
• To refocus; Given your purpose, values and goals, what are the top three things you must learn in the year ahead? How will you go about it?

That’s it. Simple, but hopefully very impactful.

Thanks for reading my blogs in this past year and for being part of this wonderful community of purposeful and passionate people. I wish you and your loved ones a very safe, happy and restful festive season and look forward to re-engaging with you in the year ahead.

I’ll continue to post daily bite-sized leadership insights and inspiration to Instagram right throughout the holidays. You can get access to them by following me here.

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