Winter: The Season for Reflection

Winter is the darkest and coldest season of the year. Trees are bare. Animals are hibernating. Just like nature, our energy levels drop and we rest more. We celebrate the year with holiday traditions and those we love. We reflect on what we achieved and set new resolutions.

The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. It marks a turning point, known as the return of the new sun, when darkness reaches its peak before the days start to get longer and warmer. A completion of the seasonal cycle, it is an optimal time to pause and reflect. This event has been widely celebrated since ancient times as symbolizing victory of light over darkness.

There are several ways to make the most of winter:

• Make memories with those you love the most

• Have warm soup, light the fireplace, and watch movies

• Clear out the clutter and reorganize your working spaces

• Light a candle and reflect on the experiences and outcomes of the year

• Think about what new experiences you want in the upcoming year

Enjoy your winter!

Leveraging AI to Plan for the New Year

This may not be a shocker, but I love planning ahead. I’ve recently incorporated AI into my annual process and it’s significantly improved the results. AI accelerates and stretches the thinking. The real value comes from iteration and intentionality. Here are three prompts that make it really fun.

This is a fun exercise to set yourself up for a fresh start. For the first time, I recommend spreading this out over several days to give yourself time and space to think through adjustments you’d like to make before finalizing one piece and moving onto the next.

Prompt 1: A Day in the Life

• I am currently a [title] at [company]. I aspire to become a [ultimate long-term role] by [year]
• I was born in [year] and I plan to work until the age of [age]
• My personal goals include [financial, relationships, etc.]
• [Add as many specifics as possible on things that are important to you]
• Tell me a story of a day in the life of my future self based on this description

[Continue to give feedback to adjust anything that doesn’t resonate with you and/or improvements that you think of. Repeat edits until you end up with a day that makes you feel excited!]

 

Prompt 2: Daily Schedule

[build upon the same conversation as above]

• Create a daily schedule for me to follow that will allow me to achieve this life
• I work [which days, which hours, do you need to drive in, what time do you prefer to start work]
• I need [x] minutes to get ready
• In the evenings, I like to [x / adjust and get as detailed as needed]
• [Add in any specific nuances that happen on specific days, preferences you have that you want to plan around, etc.]

[Continue to give feedback to adjust anything that doesn’t resonate with you and/or improvements that you think of. Repeat edits until you end up with a schedule that makes you feel excited!]

 

Prompt 3: Career Map

[build upon the same conversation as above]

• Create a strategic plan including a career map for me with a timeline. Include an objective and milestones. Tell me what to do and what not to do. Provide the long-term high-level timeline, a more detailed plan by month for the current year, and an even more detailed plan for the current quarter.

[Continue to give feedback to adjust anything that doesn’t resonate with you and/or improvements that you think of. Repeat edits until you end up with a plan that makes you feel excited!]

 

Action Plans Accelerate Results

Collaboration is way more effective with a simple execution plan  

Any time you have a team collaborating to achieve an outcome, an action plan is critical. It guides alignment on a unified approach and accelerates meaningful results. Depending on the size of the initiative, it can be a simple list or it can be a full blown project management system. One method does not “fit all”.  The best approach is the simplest tool for the scope of the work. 

Regardless of the tool, key components to include in the plan:

• Objective (why is this needed, how important is it)
• Goals and success metrics (what does winning look like)
• Defined scope to drive focus (what's in, what's out)
• Pilot (how can we achieve a quick win and accelerate learning)
• Key milestones with one clear owner (what are the big overarching critical pieces)
• Action items with clearly defined outcomes, due dates, and one owner (who does what by when)

Action Plan Best Practices:

• Design a team that has diverse perspectives, strong contributors, and is a manageable size (3-7 is optimal to enable speed and collaboration)
• Review the draft with your key stakeholders. Invite feedback and incorporate their ideas in to the plan.
• Load the document in a shared location that is easily accessible by all team members
• Establish standard status reporting processes and channels, including meeting cadences to drive progress and visibility across all impacted groups (working team, SteerCo, leadership updates, etc.)
• If an item is off track (red or yellow status), include the plan is to get it back to green
• Highlight progress of significant achievements and people that are making the difference 

Living a Life Full of Meaning

 Highlights from Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

The way that Raj Sisodia spoke of Man’s Search for Meaning during a presentation for Conscious Capitalism spoke directly to my soul. I decided right then and there that I was going to read it. To this day, it is the most impactful book I've ever read.

Frankl was a neurologist who lived in Nazi internment camps for 3 years. He paints a picture of what it felt like to be separated from family, lose everything including freedom, and witness heartbreaking cruelty. He explored how different people reacted to the torture. 

Frankl found a high correlation between a person's level of hope and their health. Those who were hopeless had declined immunity levels and experienced rapid mental and physical decay.  Prisoners with hope had a fundamentally different attitude toward life, resulting in better health. 

Even in the states of extreme torture, some prisoners felt hopeful and that their life had meaning. It is the seeking of achieving a goal that creates purpose, not a tensionless state. Having this goal to achieve enables people to not only thrive, but also overcome extremely painful experiences.

Frankl found the ultimate meaning of life is to strive for a worthwhile personal goal. It is personally motivating potential. Frankl went on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy, became a professor at Harvard, and developed logotherapy. 

College Graduation

Today I completed my last courses for my Bachelor of Arts in Business Management!  I have gone to school on and off for 25 years.  It took a back seat to my career, and then my kids when they came along.  In 2020, I made the commitment to myself to wrap it up, and to graduate before my eldest son Ayin.  

I spent the last 3 years focused on this goal, pushing through with a young child at home, a child becoming an adult and entering college, and a very full work life.  It got harder and harder as time went by, the lack of rest built up and my family became impatient for quality time.  Seeing the number of weeks whittling down was what helped me keep going, as well as the incredible support of my husband, family, and friends.  

I am SOOO GRATEFUL to have this personal  milestone behind me and for the incredible lessons I've learned along the way.  One benefit of finishing the advanced courses more recently is that they make a lot of sense based on my business experience and I can apply them immediately.  I'm very proud to close this chapter and to be the first college graduate in my immediate family.  As Luke would say, let's go! :)

Kotter's 8-Step Change Model

 I'm finishing a course on Organizational Behavior this week and I've loved it. My favorite takeaway is the change model created by John Kotter, a professor at Harvard Business School and world-renowned change expert. It's simple, yet powerful.

1. Establish a sense of urgency by creating a compelling reason for why change is needed.
2. Form a coalition with enough power to lead the change.
3. Create a new vision to direct the change and strategies for achieving the vision.
4. Communicate the vision throughout the organization.
5. Empower others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risk taking and creative problem solving.
6. Plan for, create, and reward short-term "wins" that move the organization toward the new vision.
7. Consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments in the new programs.
8. Reinforce the changes by demonstrating the relationship between new behaviors and organizational success.
   

Creating a Weekly Habits Template

Consistency builds momentum.  Small consistent steps are much more powerful than large sporadic ones; they lead to great achivements.  Weekly habits are the best path toward being consistent.  Think about the habits you have each week.  With a little conscious shaping, you can free up great amounts of time and energy, and thrust your goals forward.  

Creating a weekly habits template is a fun brainstorm session that bring clarity and inspires growth.  It provides a structure for the "to do's" to go around and helps prioritize goals.  These are the steps to creating one:

1. Open up a blank weekly calendar.  You can use this blank weekly calendar template or open up your google calendar and set the view to: week.  If using the electronic calendar, set it up so the appointments are recurring with reminders.  
2. Design your time in a way that works best for you.  
1. Think about the typical things that you need to take care of each week and place them where they work best.  Consider:  grocery shopping, work out, personal renewal time (ex: writing), organization session, family time, date night, etc.  
2. Consider processes that you have recurring tasks in.  Set aside time blocks on days that will help make those most successful.  
3. Place a couple of goal time blocks where they fit best.  These are creative sessions where you dig in and drive progress on your most important goals (ex: Wednesday afternoon - 2 hours for goal #1).
3. Optimize and refine.  Step back and review your time.  Are there changes you can make to create an ideal flow?  Group like tasks together, take care to not overload a particular day, and leave extra flexibility on days you want it most.  

One of the most important things in planning is to remain flexible.  Remember that moving planned items around when needed is not only okay, it's encouraged.  Reviewing this template every quarter or so is a great way to reflect on your accomplishments and inspire further growth.