Take Time to Look Back and Reflect

One of the most important ways to celebrate your year is not around the Christmas table with friends and family, but?to stop, sit quietly and do a little self-reflection.??Draw on some emotive energy to power you into next year, by looking back to look forward.?

I want to introduce you to my Three Lens Reflection Exercise.?Everyone?has challenges and negative aspects to their year. The benefit of this self-reflection exercise is that it shines a light on all the positives, helping you keep a balanced perspective.

You will be amazed at how full and interesting your year has been when?you do this simple and fun, yet poignant, exercise. It will connect?you with who you are, not just what you do.? ?

Capture the moments that energised you in pictures rather than numbers

While I love the depth of writing about my reflections in a journal,?there is something special about having a visual reference to the high points in your year that brings them alive in a different way.?This is very different to measuring your growth?and success in numbers. It's not that the numbers aren't important, but it's very useful to?tap into the emotion behind where you have been and what you have done.? ?

The Three Lens Reflection Exercise

You will need:

? A couple of hours

• You owe it to yourself

? Your cellphone

• Where you have captured thousands of pictures and memories this past year

? My Reflections of 2023?PowerPoint?template

• Download it here
• It has three sections which are the three lenses through which you are going to reflect on your yearJoyGrowthExcellenceSee more details below

Three lenses for reflection

Your cellphone is full of thousands of pictures that show your year in technicolour. Now put them to work for you?and pull some of the important?ones into the template (download here) to create your own private visual record of your year.? I recommend using these three lenses / categories for self-reflection:

? Joy

• Big and little things that brought you feelings of?joy?whether it's a drop of water on a rock rose or the birth of a baby

? Growth

• What pictures symbolise?growth?where you improved, healed, reconnected, learnt something new, broke through a barrier, did something different,?etc

? Excellence

• Where were you better than good??

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: There will be many images in the sections on joy and growth, but don't expect more than two or three under excellence.?This is entirely normal. Together, all three?illustrate your version of success at both work and life this year. ?

When you look through the lenses of?joy,?growth?and?excellence, how was 2023?for you??

Here's to looking back to look forwards to 2024, celebrating?the journey of this year and how you got to here!

I have included a few of my favourite moments of joy, growth and excellence below.

Much Love