You look back on your year. If you are a “glass half full” type of person you probably see all the cool stuff you were able to accomplish. If you are a “glass half empty” type of person you probably see all the mistakes you’ve made over this past year.
Many people will tell you that you have to be pragmatic with how you look at your results. I feel that’s a terrible idea when trying to access a whole years worth of wins and mistakes. You can’t look back on a whole year of positives and negatives. It takes too long and it can be depressing if you focus too much on the negatives.
You need to focus on the positives.
Every time I came to the end of a year I looked at what I was able to accomplish. I looked at my previous year’s goals. The amazing people I met. The money I earned. The new ideas I put into action.
But I always made one big mistake every time I planned my next year out. I looked at everything I did over the year. The wins and mistakes. I always focused on the mistakes way too much, ended up depressing myself and creating an uninspiring plan.
When I stopped worrying about what mistakes I made and focused on the wins I was able to create a much more energizing plan for the next year. My results soared.
You need to springboard yourself into the next year.
The only way to make sure your leap forward is a significant one is to focus on the positives. You can focus on mistakes you made next week. When you create a grand plan for the year you need to focus on the positives of what you’ve been able to accomplish. You must build your confidence and create a plan that energizes you.
How to Review Your Year:
- Make a list of everything that went well and what actions you took to make them happen.
- Look at what top 5 items gave you the most bang for your time.
- Create a weekly action plan that will use 80% of your time on these top 5 activities.
These are the actions that you need to focus on next year. The more you can focus on these activities the better your productivity and results will be.
Seems so simple and it is, but it takes self discipline to stay focused. You get distracted and forget to focus your energy on doing actions that give you the best results.
Good luck to you! Let me know how your next year’s results improve.
Focussing o n your strengths is definitely the sway to go for me. In organisations I sometimes use a process called Appreciative Enquiry which is al about helping people occurs one their strengths & successes & then building on them-it of like creating a virtuous circle.
I live your idea of focusing on your most successful & productive activities
Hi Jo, Staying focused is hard for many of us to do especially in our over stimulated society. I applaud you and keep up the great focus.