Fire Starter,

On Team D we think of September as the new January, so a few months ago we dove into business-related retrospection and visioning to get free & clear for 2019. Whenever you’re ready to start fresh, here are a few laser-focused questions.

A SHORT HOW-TO FOR DOING A YEARLY RETROSPECTIVE

Step 1: Write a list of the highlights of the last year or season. You only have five minutes. Write anything. It’s fascinating to see what surfaces when you don’t filter it, hence the time pressure.

Optional… Step 2: Have a good friend look over your list and point out anything you missed, and what they see as your patterns. My friend, Steph, helped me with this one year… “You know what you didn’t mention on this list? HELLO! That the business made $X last year! That you did THAT business deal, and THAT business deal.”

Oops. I laughed, “Oh yeah. Money. We done good. But! I also got the BEST HAIRCUT EVER and that is monumental.” And then the laughter/dismay tears/laughter came back. I completely blanked on the dollars and deals. All I could remember was that song, and that day at the beach, and crying in the cafe, and THAT idea and THAT idea, and the ONE THING I said that day that made it all better… “My body remembers everything that really matters.” I thought.

Step 3: What pattern do YOU see? What very obviously gave you joy? What was “big” but didn’t even make it on to the list?

Step 4: What really matters? Chill out more and really think about what moved you and mattered the most in your past year.

Step 5: Focus. Determine the five things you’re going to focus on in the next year or phase of your life. (Easier said than done, and/but… such focus is ESSENTIAL to your success.) Go back to Step 3.

The key to truly rewarding focus, in business and life, is doing what lights you up. Here’s wishing you a LUMINOUS 2019!

Bright Love,