The Weekly Wrap - Retrospective

There are 29 days until 2023. ⌛️

Can you believe it?

The finish line is less than a month away. 🚩

As a planner and a list maker, I love goal setting and getting things done.

And I like to use this time of year to kickstart my plan for the next quarter and the next year.

However, moving forward without looking back and learning is a mistake.

So before I start setting big goals and making a new plan, I review the past year to see what I've learned and where I want to go next.

In most project and product delivery methodologies, there is some sort of post-production review and "lessons learned" meeting or process.

In the Agile methodology, this meeting is called a retrospective. It's a time to look back on what happened, what worked, what didn't, and what can be done differently in the future.

It helps to uncover roadblocks, identify additional resources needed, and address changes necessary to help the team achieve more success.

I have adopted this "retrospective" into my planning. I like to kickstart the whole process by "inspecting what I expect" out of myself, and seeing where I need a plan to pivot going into the new year to be more successful and hit my goals.

Interested in doing your own yearly retrospective? Here are three areas I look at when performing my own retrospective. Find some time, grab a pen and paper, and see what you come up with!

Step 1 ➡️ Review the past

First take some time and review your past year. 

What were some highlights of the year? What were some of the struggles? Make sure you really think back - last January can seem like a lifetime ago!

Did you set goals?

Did you meet the goals you set?

What helped you achieve these goals or what held you back?

Start with two lists: 

❇️ What were you happy with? 

❇️ What do you wish went better? 

This exercise will give you a list of the things you can continue to build momentum on and a list of the things you need a plan to change.

Step 2 ➡️ New Year, New You

Einstein told us "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results."

What changes do you need to implement in your life to impact the results that you are getting?

And this isn't just about work! This includes your personal life as well, because our work and personal lives have an undeniable impact on each other.

🔵 Maybe it's a commitment to focus more on prioritizing you and your health.

🔵 Maybe you want to be more intentional and present with your children.

🔵 Maybe it's time for a rekindling of your relationship with your significant other.

🔵 Maybe you need to rethink how you're showing up as a leader for your team at work.

🔵 Maybe you're ready to make a bigger impact on your community.

What do you need to do to be your best in 2023? Spend some time being honest with yourself.

Write down the changes you need to make to show up differently next year and get different results!

Step 3 ➡️ Envision your future

Before you can set goals, before you can create a plan of action to achieve them, you have to really understand where you want to go.

The final piece of this retrospective is to spend some time and picture what you want your future to look like.  

Gain clarity around the future you want to create for yourself and your business.

🕶 Where do you want to go?

🕶 What does success look like for you?

🕶 What does your life look like when you've achieved this success?

🕶 Why is this future and vision important to you?

Clarity is power.

Once you understand your destination, you can come up with the plan to get you there.

Spend some time thinking about your future vision - really envision it!

You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. - C.S. Lewis

As we close to the end of 2022, it's time to reflect and plan for 2023.  

Take advantage of some the cancelled meetings that come around this time of year and start your 2023 goal setting process now with a retrospective of your own.

Over the next few weeks I'll be talking about setting goals - and how to actually achieve them in 2023. 🎯

If you're looking for some inspiration to help you set goals for your team (or yourself personally), follow along!  🔔

💃🏼 🕺🏻 With that, I'll leave you with your weekly jam; a little tune to start off your Friday night dance party (or when evern this comes across your feed, frankly)! 🪩

Why?

Because at the end of a long and stressful day (especially at the end of the week), we need to complete our stress response cycle to reduce our feelings of burnout.

And dancing does just that!

Don't take my word for it, it's science! (Read a synopsis of the amazing book Burnout by the Nagowski siblings here - or just buy the book here.)

So crank up the volume and bust a move - bonus points if you sing along!

Make it a great one!

Liz 🤓 🙌🏻 💜