This is my favorite time of year. That’s because all sorts of good things happen just about now. Within the same week, I get to celebrate my birthday and Thanksgiving–gratitude and the joy of being alive for another year–plus enjoying family and friends, looking forward to Christmas, and winding up another great year. But there’s another reason I love this season. This is when I take my annual birthday retreat. It’s my personal, private, just-me time to look back at the past year of my life and look ahead to the coming year, to take stock in what I experienced, and create a vision for my future.
If you’ve been following Seven Dimensions of Productivity, you already know that “Strategy” and “Satisfaction and Fulfillment” are two of the seven dimensions. These two dimensions are very interdependent. Without time to be reflective, looking back to gain learning and insight, looking ahead to envision the future, you can’t be strategic. Having time to think–uninterrupted, unhurried, all to yourself–is absolutely essential to creating sound strategy. Likewise, satisfaction and fulfillment are fully experienced only when you make space (and time) to identify and embrace your accomplishments. The process of looking back and looking ahead become rhythms that pace your productivity, giving it life and sustainability over the long haul.
As you look toward the last few weeks of 2009, find some time to give yourself the gift of a few uninterrupted hours to look back and look ahead. Review your experiences. Embrace your joys. Unpack your failures. Seek insights. Look toward the future and envision success. What do you want more of in 2010? Now is the time to write it down, so you can make it happen.
The Productivity Maven’s next teleclass, "Year-end Reflection, Year-start Planning," will be held on Dec 1, 2009 at 4 pm Eastern. She’ll help you focus on three of the Seven Dimensions: Results, Strategy, Satisfaction and Fulfillment. If you attend this class, you'll
* Look back at your year to gain insight, capture learning, and celebrate achievement
* Look to the year ahead to create a vision, set goals, and start planning
To register, click here.
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