This is the time of year, when everyone gets little crazy about future goals and new year resolutions and everything like that that’s great we all do need focus and direction in the new year. However I feel like we all kind of miss a step before making any goals we should actually sit down and take time to reflect what we did last year, what happened and how we felt. And to evaluate why things happen and hold ourselves accountable to what actually happened last year. Because can we really move forward from last year if we haven’t looked back at our mistake and actually realise oh that happened because of that, it will give us so much more clarity and we might realise that we might not want to repeat the last year you just had in business and that we need to change the way your planning and preparing yourself for it. Too tired to read ?! Listen to the end of year self reflective tutorial – Episode. 015 on >>Apple Podcast<< or >>Spotify<<
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Thank you, Olivia x
So in todays episode I will be guiding you through exercise to help you gain clarity and understand what happened last year and why did things happened the way they did last year ? and how did you actually feel for most of last year? Were you stressed because you had so many goals you were trying to hit or were you actually enjoying yourself and making more sales? It’s a time to really understand what happened last year so you can make the next business year the best year yet.
The Difference Solopreneurs Reflection Tutorial
Time: 1:35
As a solopreneur we work primary independently we might out source for a few things but unlike working in a business, we don’t really have any one higher up than us that can really give us a performance review. Or provide us with a different perceptive and or tell us were we could be and do better. So this reflective review is less about reviewing our own job performance and it’s not even really about reflecting on our business performance either, because let’s face it most use already know and are acutely aware all year round were our business is with traffic, income sales and any other static.
No this end-of year reflection guide is actually more about reflecting on who you were last year, the person you were. We’re going take the time to reflect upon our behaviour, habits, feelings even our thoughts, so we can understand better and clear on why things went the way they did for us last year in business. It might get a little uncomfortable but it will surely pay off because you’ll know exactly what you should and shouldn’t do for the next year so it can truly be your best.
Reflection Meditation Excises
Time: 2:46
We’re going to start off with a reflection excises. We are usually on the go all year round, either typing away grabbing a pen to write reminders and ticking off to do’s. But we rarely actually take the time to check in with ourselves. This is an excise for you to actually sit still, calm even close your eyes and to reflect or some sort of mediation if you will, but instead of concentrating on your breathing, we focus our minds on the year you just lived.
Let your thoughts and realisations flow and take a quite moment to think about your last year. What did you experience, a lot of highs or a lot lows? Was it overall a good and positive year or a slow and fraught year? Start your memories back to January and scroll through in your mind all the way through to this moment now. Kind of mental play a movie in your head of your whole year, but speed it up by 5x and only play through the parts that pop up and you really remember, it could have been something a good or might have been something bad you experienced.
Take your time understanding what actually happened last year through this reflection tutorial. What did you get excited about and tasks or projects did you get to tick off. Maybe you forgot about a project, left some loosens ends undone? What were the main objectives you set out to do and how many of those on that goals list did you follow through with and accomplish? We find ourselves making goals so easily, but we must remember that the shiny new-year feeling does fade, with it so does our momentum. We can’t be on full steam ahead all year round it’s not humanly possible. We need to remember our energy and motivation will natural ebb and flow throughout the year, maybe you can even visualise this pattern you had last year.
You can now open your eyes if you close them, grab a pen and just start jotting down anything you want to remember about last year, write some thoughts, realisations, experiences that stood out. Maybe you realised something or had a revelation about why something happened written that down. But also jot down the majority of how what you felt within your business the emotions you experience last year. Was your year predominately happy, excited, motivated, nervous, uncomfortable, fearful. It’s likely you’ll have experienced more than one, but just try and pick out the more predominate emotion you felt, the ones you remember experiencing multiple times throughout the year. We’ll refer back to that later.
The Hard Realisation on Reflection
Time: 5:31
The hard truth your business year was the way it was due to you. Some of you may of just uncomfortable twisted in your seat because is said that, because that was hard to hear and I’m sorry but it actually the hard truth and must be noted in this reflection tutorial.
Let’s think about it, if you don’t think your accountable for your business failures, then it would mean you can’t be responsible for your business wins either, and everything that happened in your business was and is just dumb luck, right? Wrong, we must take accountability for our failures for a bad year, for a slow month, even for how we overall felt last year. We must realise that last year happened because of whom we were and what we did. Only once we take 100% full responsibility of the fact that we have the power and control to have a good year and feel good. We can create change for ourselves. To have a good year it’s supported with our mind-set, the way we feel for the majority of the year, if we’re constantly in a state of stress or fear others will feel that from us. If we’re having negative thought about our business for most of last year we’ll be attracting and focusing on all of the bad things that could happened.
Getting clear on the things you missed out on
Time: 6:51
Let’s face it as a solopreneurs we don’t have a co-work to blame or put are mistakes on we are 100% responsible for our messes. So if you did the reflection excise by replaying last year through your mind, and you saw a lot bad, lows throughout your business year, it was unfortunately due to you, or more specific who you were last. So let’s take another five or ten minutes, you can pause this episode and this time reflect but concentrate on the things you missed out on? Last year happened because? I missed out on this opportunity? What were the things you stopped yourself from doing or taking part in? What things do you wished you had accomplished? Things you did but didn’t go right or as planned? What were the things you maybe gave up on early on in the year that you now wished you hadn’t know? And once again when you open your eye you can quickly jot all the things that came up into your mind when we were running through those questions.
Connecting your feelings with what happened last year
Time: 7:53
You should have two lists in front of you one with an overview with the majority of feelings you felt last year and another list with the opportunity you feel like you missed out on. Now it’s time to really reflect at both of these lists and start to make connections and link up the opportunities you missed out with the feelings you experienced most of last year. It’s time to start realise that what you feel effects the way you think. The way you think impact what you believe you’re capable of.
Maybe you really lacked confidence last year and because you kept feeling and thinking this you never got round to launching that course. Or maybe you felt pretty comfortable last year, but now you’re realising you didn’t see any improvements, the needle didn’t move forward within your business because you weren’t pushing yourself or taking risks. Maybe you felt fearful, and you were thinking a lot of the time Oh I couldn’t do that or what if goes wrong and this or that happens, and therefore you didn’t take on a new project or client.
The feeling you felt last year would have really impacted on what things got done and why things got missed. It is really frustrating, but we do hold ourselves back, our brain is in constant battle! But at least right now you are identify them calling them out for what they are. Making sure we are exposing of them and to flip the narrative accomplish more feel happier and not let these pesky little feelings and thought impact your next year in business.
Habits that feed on us
Time: 9:25
Once you’ve done that now lets take a quick look at your habits, our habit can speak volumes as to who we are. If I said I’m a later riser, your already subconscious drawing conclusions and associate about me because of that habit.
Lets take a moment to think about your daily habits, if you realise that stress was a feel you felt last year or anxious before work. What are you doing that could be contributing to this or magnifying it in some way? You might realise well I do get up later than I should so I have to eat my breakfast at my desk maybe that’s triggering some tension or anxiety. They say that the first thing you think about in the morning determines your whole day.
Or maybe you are already getting up fairly early, but maybe you feel pretty unmotivated, may take a moment and think about your environment, you were working in was you desk space a mess? What was your eating habits like what were you eating for lunch? Maybe you never had time to make lunch so you just made crappy food that actually made your realising now could have been making you feel sluggish halfway through the day. Or maybe you didn’t drink enough water? All of those things could contribute to feeling unmotivated. You get the idea, start writing down the habits that could of contributed to the way you felt most days last year.
Looking to the future
Time: 11:31
Reflection complete. Now it’s time to look forward not to make goals or objective. Now almost warning statement or realisation if you will. You could title it Who I Have To Become or If I Don’t Want The Same Results as Last Year I Must… Look over everything you’ve written down and start devise a list of things that will help you next year. Some of the statements I’ve had last year have been,
I need to become a 7am weekday riser to feel less anxious.
I need to be practising affirmations and mind-set techniques to combat my fear in business.
I need to be someone who doesn’t stop just because I don’t get instant satisfaction or a good result.
I need to care much less about what other people think of me to get out of my comfort zone.
These are just example for you, but you’ll have your own list, these not limit really to how many you can have written down however don’t bombard yourself too much! But do make sure that the thing you pick to change or works on are right for you.
Brushing up on the reflection review
Time: 13:32
This end of year reflection guide for soloprenerus is something you should really do before even thinking about goals. This guide is actually something I would highly recommend doing throughout the year not just at the end of your year.
It’s far too easy going throughout the business year with our blinkers on not realise that our thought, feelings and habits are all contributing and effecting our business outcomes. I really hope these reflection excises and techniques will help you slow down, realise the areas that you need to improve upon and the things you need to stop doing! I wanted to make extra sure every listener here today, realises that you must take full responsibility of wins and failure so that you leave here recognising that you really do have the power to achieving all the thing you want in business next year.