It’s day 2 of the Finish Strong Challenge. My alarm went off at 6 am as it usually does. I crawled out of bed, made my way to the kitchen, hit the start button on the coffee maker and lit a candle.
After sitting in silence and reflecting on what “Finish Strong” message I have for you today, my thoughts drifted to my previous year-end rituals. A common thread among the years I finished really strong is that I invested time to consciously sit with and make sense of what had unfolded in the preceding year.
So, to set the stage for our best year yet, you and I need to muster up the courage to look back and be honest with ourselves so we can take the learning forward.
We need to celebrate where we kicked ass, forgive ourselves for the miss-steps, honor the decisions that created great results and let go of the times things fell short of our expectations. It’s not always fun to look back. But if we can do it with a big dose of self-love and forgiveness, it can be the catalyst for a truly remarkable year.
So today you and I are going to dive into my Rear-view Mirror Exploration. I call it this because it reminds me that it requires just a quick glance at what’s behind me before returning my focus to what’s ahead. When we are speeding down the highway at 70 MPH, we can only afford a quick glance in the rear view mirror – to arrive successfully at our destination our focus must remain on the road ahead.
Our intent is to unearth both Celebrations and Revelations so we can take them with us into the New Year. And while I do this for my personal life as well, we’ll stay focused on the business stuff for the purposes of this blog entry. ;0)
6 Celebrations
- What were my 10 greatest wins from last year?
- What 3 key relationships did I nurture this past year?
- What 3 accomplishments am I most proud of?
- What big risk am I proud that I took?
- Where did I experience joy?
- When did I feel most in my zone of genius?
6 Revelations
- What did I not do enough of last year?
- What risk did I not take that I wish I had?
- Where did I feel blocked or challenged?
- If I had a “do over” card, what 3 things would I have done differently?
- What 3 lessons will I carry into next year?
- What six things am I committed to do more of next year to show up powerfully in my business?
Now you have it – my year in review process. Now you get to pass or play.
But we’re not done yet, are we? I made a promise to you to be transparent and to pull back the curtain on my own Finish Strong journey. So, in keeping my word and stepping outside my comfort zone, I’m sharing my Rear-view Mirror Exploration, click here to access it. My hope is it starts the wheels turning and makes it a little easier to get honest about the past 11 months.
Important Note: If you are NOT receiving my daily Finish Strong Emails and would like to, click here to opt in. I’ll start you off with Day 1 so we can walk this path together. Then, tell me what you are thinking by posting a comment on this blog. I want the good, the bad and the not so pretty so we can figure out this journey together! Smiles, Jane
YUM! I love your revealing here!
I am learning from you, and I am grateful
I’ve learned
“That nothing is as important as my joy, happiness, excitement and love for what I do and the
moment it starts to waiver I need to stop, listen and trust my inner voice to do what needs to be
done to move myself back to that place of joy, happiness and excitement. ” – BAM – the truth that so many of us blow past too often! Thank you Jane!
Love
Mellissa
Wow thanks so much for the structure Jane, I loved reading your blog!, my aha was the do over card and breaking my analysis into positives, negatives and to do again! Thank you so much Hane- loving this! 😉
Jill
Thank you Jillian :o) I am so glad that you pulled your positives, negatives and let’s do this again from 2015 out… I am so enjoying going deep with the challenge and so glad you are loving it.
Jane your transparency empowered my own. Like you I have much of the last year in a journal. This format is fun for me to take and dump my celebrations and reflections into. The result is that my reflections feel like Wins too…Without what I have learned, without the deeper trust in who I am and how well I know myself, I would not be where I find myself at the end of this year….From Jan 2015 to December 2015, I’ve developed from whirling dervish conceptual/idea creative genius into a centered, confidant and committed thought leader at the end. At the start of this year I had desire & vision for my business and then I did a typical step for me and moved into what I term “should be doing” mode to try and move quickly into create and launch…Although it was something in my personal life that acted as the catalyist to my hitting the PAUSE button, it took me out at the knees and rather than fight it, I leaned into it and from the pause I was able to listen to my deeper intuition and honor it. I stopped listening to everyone else about what I “should” do, I started listening to myself about what I know works for me….Thank you Jane
Thank you for being you and just being such a powerful leader in your clarity and authenticity — especially when it is clear that there is always “what if this or that is too much to reveal”. I want you to take care of yourself better and that will help me and perhaps others — but the question that arises in my mind is what that kind of care truly is. I am identifying with the “funk” of being tired, of not always getting to be in one’s creative genius that is our brilliance, but gets diverted into many tasks. Delegating and spending money — I’ve been doing — but to learn from you and from myself — wise discerning. I hope I learn from my mistakes and they become what I can share and teach too. Thanks again Jane.
I’ve started this on Dec 4 so I’m slightly late reading this. However, I’m intrigued with the looking back exercise which I’m about to embark on in one hour. I usually charge forward with new plans without spending the time to look back for deeper learnings than I can get with a cursory glance. thank you for this. It’s brilliant! Here’s a cup of coffee toast to everyone’s excellent December!
Can’t wait to hear what you discovered by taking time to look back and celebrate, Carol. The good news is you are not behind. People can start anytime. I’m so happy you are with us!
Hi Jane
Thank you so much for sharing, I must admit being hesitant when I first read this but now I am committed to doing the exercise I believe it will support me out of my stuck space
Melissa – you can do this, I believe in you 🙂 I’m excited you are on this journey to finish 2015 strong and make 2016 your best year yet!
Jane, thank you. 2015 has been an incredible year and I am looking into 2016 knowing it will be even better. Using the template you have provided will be great and productive, as well as fun. Smiles!
Hi Jane, I’ve done the rearview exercise . In the end I need to forgive myself for such an unproductive year, while congratulating myself for surviving 2015 and finishing it much stronger than I have been all year. It was a revealing and humbling exercise for me.
great sharing…that took TIME to really think through…we often run so fast we don’t take the time to hear ourselves think, much less put it on paper; thanks for great examples on THINKING differently, for a change! 🙂
Wow Jane,
I certainly received important feedback from my own answers (like that I value connection above all else), but your answers opened up many more doors and insights for me to consider moving forward. Thank you so much for your honesty and vulnerability. That serves (and connects) us tremendously.
Bless You!
Stepping up to make this public is the Slight Edge, meaning it is just as easy to do something as it is not to do and when you work as an entrepreneur and no one really knows what actions you really take each day to build your business, it easy not to be accountable to be doing the actions that really move your business to the next level you are trying to achieve and the income potential you know is there to be made NOW and support the team that you know want to do the same.. This is good timing as always Miss Jane Deuber, your brilliance and intuitiveness is spot on. So I commit to play full on and state that I am here to Set my intention to end 2015 Strong and to learn and take the right action’s now and into 2016.
Jane,
This was enlightening.
I posted ALL my answers on my facebook.com/TheMassageBusinessAcademy page to share with MY followers.
I also tagged this blog entry so others could do the work too.
Here is ONE of my answers…
The six things I am committed to do more of next year to show up powerfully in my business:
1] BE first & DO with as little effort as possible by planning, delegating and asking for help from my team
2] Start with the end in mind & work back to now
3] Only commit if it aligns with my goals and I can see myself powerfully fulfilling the commitment
4] Clear my space physically, mentally and spiritually continuously
5] Stay connected in ALL areas of my life especially my friendships
6] Finish the projects I’ve begun through 2015 before accepting more opportunities
Cheers,
Yvonne
…on to the next day in your 30 day challenge