Finola Howard 0:01
I'm Finola Howard, Business Growth strategist with a joyful heart, and your host of the your truth shared podcast, I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not, and your story has to resonate with who you are and with the people you want to serve, and this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you, because great marketing is your truth shared. I felt it appropriate in this our 100th episode together to share with you my annual reflection and review process. It is a way to explore this past year and help you shape your intentions for next year. Tune in. This is a working episode that I hope you'll want to save and use again and again.
It's our 100th episode, and I'm so excited and proud to have gotten this far. It's also that time of year when we invariably take time out to reflect and review the past year. So I thought it would be a fitting use of this 100th episode to dedicate it to our mutual reflections and also as a way to explore this past year from a perspective of growth and joy. Those are the two words that capture where I am right now in my own journey. So I offer them to you today as a way to ground right action going forward for you too. So if it's okay with you, let's dive right in. Okay? I find the best way to start this reflection and review process, and it's the way I do it every year, actually, with stream of conscious journaling. Okay, journaling like this creates space for the unexpected, the things your conscious mind might have you avoid or diminish, the stuff you don't really want to look at, or the stuff you haven't quite realized was significant, and things pop up here that are always a surprise for me, sometimes a delight and sometimes a clue to a deeper space that I need to go to. Both are powerful. My journal is the space where I feel into things. It is the truest writing place for me, because there's no judgment here. It is simply a space for truth. I set it up that way, as a tangible tool for my own personal growth. And if you're not doing it already, I highly recommend it. Remember, it's not a space that I figure out the strategic direction of my business or the impact of any campaigns I'm running. It's the purest space that chronicles my own personal journey on this planet, warts and all, and that's our starting point for this annual review. So open your journal, and if you don't have one, I always recommend you get something beautiful to work in, something that is a joy, to the touch, to look at, to open and to allow yourself to spend some time here. Your journal should be a gift to yourself, because that's what it is. So start writing about what this year was like for you in that beautiful space that you've given yourself. Write what comes as it comes it doesn't matter what order it comes in. It's actually not meant to be chronological, so just write about what rises as it rises. And don't worry, you will get it all in. Just let go of the need to organize it and let it happen. Writing in this way goes deeper than just memory, because your subconscious has its own way of prioritizing things for you here, allow that to happen, and when you finish that stage, we go a little bit deeper with it. Okay, same journal, but let's review a little bit more once you've done it, I often recommend that you go away and have a cup of tea and come back or go for a walk. And don't think that this is a sitting in one moment in time. You might need to dedicate an afternoon or a day to this process. It's really, really valuable, and I highly recommend that you do it. So after you come back from your cup of coffee, sit down, open the journal again, same journal, and let's start this review stage. Okay, first, we just gathered everything, and now we're kind of going to review on it. So compare the year with your expectations of it before you started. What were your hopes for this year? What worked, what didn't, didn't matter, what was the lesson that came as a result of what didn't work. Does the lesson actually matter more for your growth than success would have? What was the learning? Write it here. It's important to write that down. That learning because you don't write it, you might actually still hide from it. Write it to help you shape. A different approach for next year. And Now ask yourself, will that learning form part of your intentions for this coming year? And take a breath and let's switch perspective, and I'll ask you, can you also celebrate what worked this past year? So in as much as we need to review and reflect what didn't work. We really need to celebrate what did work so we can do more of it. Okay, so can you celebrate what worked this year? And what was the lesson here too? What was the gift it brings to show you who you are, truly who you are, in your fullest light, in your fullest potential. What was that gift, and will that form part of your intentions for this year? And can you lean into that gift even more next year? Take a moment with that. Sit with it. It's a deeper question. Now, put your journal to the side. Okay, close at hand, though, so you can grab it when you need and let's do a quick scan of the other places that reflect your past year. They act as reminders of where you were at each point that may not have come to mind through your subconscious journaling. We need to look elsewhere for this. Okay, so what I'd love you to do is to skim your calendar like it's could be a Google Google Calendar. It could be whatever calendar you keep. So skim that calendar, skim the photos on your phone, and also have a look at your credit card statements, or even your bank statements. And in these spaces, I don't want you looking at social media here, because that's your public face. What I'm wanting you to look at what you chose to capture, where you chose to be, who you chose to spend time with, and what you chose to spend your money on. All of those are important. And when you find yourself saying or, Oh, my God, note that in your journal, because those reactions are truth telling. They tell you how that felt in those moments throughout the course of the year. Sit with it, note it, and now what you actually have is a true list of what happened this last year
that, again, warrants a breath and a cup of coffee or a walk, because you've got to be ready for the reflection piece. So after you've had that breath, let's do that reflection piece. Let's assume you've had that breath, and I move on now, so we can set you up for next year. Okay, now I've created a single sheet download that you can do this next step on. It's my annual reflection and review template, and I'll add a link in the show notes so you can download it. You can also set it up for yourself on a separate sheet of paper, as we're doing this here now, and split it into four sections vertically. Okay? So the first section is Reflect, okay with everything that you've kind of allowed to come forth, okay? And I'm going to ask you, as you maybe skim back and look at things and move between, you know, those pictures and that journal I'm going to ask you to put on this separate sheet of paper, four simple questions. Okay. The first one was, what brought you joy this year? You might find yourself circling things you've written. Write them here. Capture them here. What stole your joy this past year? Number three, what fed and supported your growth this past year? And lastly, what limited your growth this last year? These are tough questions, and they need some time. I also will add a little tweak to each of those. You can add the word who, as well as what if it feels right to you, because we don't want to move into blame, we would just want to capture information so it could be what or who brought you joy, what or who stole your joy, what or who fed and supported your growth, what or who limited your growth, because the people, clients, friends, etc, that you surround yourself with do have a direct impact on these questions, and they do have a direct impact, but on both your joy and your growth. So it's important not to ignore them again. After this exercise, I'd probably walk away for a little bit and then come back and in this section two, I call it renew, okay, and this is all about setting intent for next year. It's about taking those reflections and taking those learnings and using them to shape what comes next. And again, I have four simple questions for you, okay, what will I bring with me? What Learn? Mean, will I bring with me? What or who will I bring with me next year? What will I leave behind? What do I need to let go of? Third question, what do I dream of for next year? And how can I support that dream? Four big questions, and they really shape next year again, what and who? What are the learnings? What am I bringing with me? What do I take with me in this next version of myself? Next year? Really important. Okay, again, maybe another walk. Section three, this is a simple one. It's what I'm it's called the Wheel of Life scores, and you've probably heard of them before. If you haven't, I'll put a link in the show notes so you can read up on it, but you'll have heard of this as a tool often used by coaches when they're doing one to one work with people, and it's a kind of sense check to make sure you don't miss out on any aspect of real life, because sometimes we place too much attention in one area and not enough attention in the other area, because we don't like being out of our comfort zone. So this makes sure we don't leave those areas that we need to address off our radar. Okay, so score yourself here at a 10 for each area of your life, loads of different wheels of life out there, and I've just take taking the ones that resonate most with me. Okay, so here's my there's eight things that you score yourself out of 10 on so and in no particular order. Okay, spirituality, your relationship with that, how you score yourself there Money and Finance, an important one to face for everyone, business growth, again, to face, health and fitness again. See, they're all really important. I'm calling these out and realizing how much work I have to do. Okay, health and fitness, fun and recreation, family and friends, Personal Growth Partners and love, eight strong areas that if you can balance them and make sure that you keep growing in each of these eight areas, you really have a much more balanced life, and that's what we're all looking for. So the question then is, if you find yourself scoring low on any of these, maybe it's something you need to work on for yourself for next year. Maybe it will be a point of focus. Make it part of your dream for yourself. All of these are important. All of these are necessary, both for your joy and for your growth. Give them the attention they deserve, the equal attention that they deserve. Now, already I know where I've where I can celebrate the growth parts in each of these eight areas. I know even just calling these out to you, I know where I need to pay attention. I know where I can celebrate. I know what I'll bring with me. You can see the connection between what you bring forward in this renew stage. So it's a really useful tool to sense check and make sure that you don't forget what you need to pay attention to. Okay, let's move on to Section four, and it's a it's a simple and quite a useful exercise, which is your word for the year. Now I've spoken about word for the year many times before, because it's actually something I do every year. I focus on a word that will steer my course for the coming year, because remember the entrepreneurs tendency to meander. So any tools that we can use, or simple devices or mnemonics, or whatever it is that can help you focus and stay on track will have a powerful impact on your growth for next year. So choose it at the end of this process as a way to sum up the year ahead. You can't really do it at the start. If you do this at the start, it'll just be an intellectual exercise. If you do this having felt through this whole process. It will be very, very powerful for you, and that way it won't be arbitrary and won't leave you off the hook. Which is also important. Words for me in the past have been joy, courage. Order has been another one. You know, get your house in order, that kind of stuff. They each have their own story, and they've each had a direct impact on my focus for the year. So spend time on that one. Sum up. It'll sum up what you've learned in the previous three sections, and it will help you orient yourself for next year. Closing thoughts for you. So before you close your journal or fully leave this review sheet behind, take some time to know things you are grateful for, the moments and the people that made a difference to you, they will color your choices for next year too. They are the things that this journey is worth having for. And let me leave you with this next wish for next year, may it be filled. With joy and abundance in equal measure. May you spend time with those you love and who love you in return. May you be brave enough to do the work that brings you your dreams. May there be ease and joy in that work too. May you laugh loudly and often with people who do the same. So that's it. Wishing you all the best and that you have a significant year for yourself next year, and make sure to download your annual review template here in the show notes, and I'll see you next week. I hope you enjoyed that episode. Reach out and let me know your thoughts on it and where you are on your own reflections for this past year, do click on the link in the show notes to access my annual reflection and review template and use it to shake your year ahead. Thank you for listening to your truth shared. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with your entrepreneurial friends and help them grow their business to even greater heights and until next time, let's keep growing. You.
