Check-In Time!

A Look Back

As my cherished Auntie Irma always used to say, time only flies more quickly with every passing calendar year.  The trouble is, too few of us step off the crazy daily treadmill long enough to pause and take stock of our progress.  As such, our inner power remains largely untapped.  In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if many of you haven’t even looked at your intentions since New Year’s – until I bring them to your attention now.  How can I make such a bold claim?  Because I haven’t revisited my own list as often as I had promised myself over that time!

Mid-Year “Assessment”

So, how about we together return to that important personal growth work and take a brief look at what has happened in the past six months?  Let me just grab my own list along with you.

Let’s use the format of “questions for reflection” to guide your discoveries.  That way, you can make the second part of the year your best yet!  Here we go:

• What has been your biggest win or success of the first six months of the year?
• What has been your biggest disappointment of  the first six months of the year?
• What is at least one key lesson you have experienced by this point?
• How have you taken action on what you’ve learned?
• Which attitudes and behaviours have been working well for you this year?
• Which attitudes and behaviours have not been effective for you this year?
• What “course corrections” do you choose to make so you can Be, Do and Have what you deliberately intend by December 31?

The Top “Ten” List (12 for this occasion)

How well do you align with your word and live your commitments?  Notice as you fill in the blanks!

1. One way I demonstrate the integrity of my personal leadership through attitude, word or behaviour is ______________________________________________.
2. Colleagues have experienced my Authentic Self through __________________.
3. An action I have taken to continuously improve things at work is ___________.
4. I practice extreme self-care by _________________________________.
5. _______________________ is someone for whom I make a huge difference.
6. My (unique professional or personal) experience of ______________________ sets me apart from the crowd around me.
7. ______________ is a proud accomplishment in keeping with my annual intentions.
8. I extend loving kindness to those around me by _________________________.
9. I am now defining success as ________________________________________.
10. I have left the comfort zone of _______________________ behind me for good.
11. 11) __________________________ is one action I have taken to become “unstuck”.
12. 12) I have made space for new opportunities to come to me by _________________.

Parting Reflections

Here’s one of my all-time favourite paragraphs.  I believe it well captures everything I strive to convey from my heart to yours.

“You have a purpose that exists only for you and that only you can fulfill… it takes courage and self-love to answer that call.  Your only obligation is to carry out the mission you are meant for, not what your father, mother, mate, or friends say you should do.  No one can go through your life, tell you what it is or how to live it, except you.  We’re talking about self-care here: releasing the need to please others so that you take care of yourself!  Every one of you has an individual mission to manifest.  Each of you has an individual part to play in that process.  There are no substitutes for you, no actors standing in the wings to play your role… Your mission will begin to take shape in you when you consciously follow your inner wisdom.  Your mission is the most important gift you will ever receive in your life.  You have no excuses for missing the mark because it’s your mark.  The ultimate source for your answers is an inside job.”(Naomi Stephan, Fulfill Your Soul’s Purpose)