10 Questions for Reflection and Planning
You ever feel slightly internally panicked on the 1st because you realize another month just went by so fast that you don’t even remember what happened during the month?
That is the case for me more often than not. And it can really get me into a state of wondering if I’m even being effective or if I accomplished anything.
I’ve found that a few minutes of reflection and planning at the beginning of the month REALLY encourages me.
If I spend some time planning and setting my intentions and my focus for the month at the beginning, formulate a plan, and focus on executing the plan, then all month long it’s clear what requests I should say yes to and what I should say no to. And at the end of the month, after it’s all moved so fast that it feels like a blur, I can scroll through my pictures and my calendar and see that
A. I did not accomplished every thing I had intended to accomplish but
B. I did accomplish a good bit of it, and brick by brick a house is built.
Then I feel encouraged. And I repeat this planning and reflection process each month.
In November I took my high school senior on a trip to visit another university, took a day trip with the 4 littles to the zoo, hosted an event in Atlanta with over 160 attendees from various states, invested heavily into my team with coaching and 3 way calls, created lots of content, read several books, enjoyed some family time and unplugged time over Thanksgiving break, identified some fears that were keeping me from moving forward in certain areas, had some long conversations about things that matter with my kids, hosted some friends for dinner at our house, went Black Friday shopping, took my daughters to the Nutcracker ballet, and improved my prayer life!
I did a lot more than i felt like I did. I just have to slow down and process it.
Here are some questions that help me reflect on the previous month and set my focus and intention for the new month:
What were my main highlights?
What were my biggest challenges?
What did I learn?
What work did I do?
What impact did I have?
What do I need to do differently this month? What do I need to do more of? What do I need to do less of?
What do I want to accomplish this month?
What activities do I need to focus on and prioritize?
What do I need to learn?
What obstacles and/or distractions might come up and what is my plan to deal with those?
After you set aside time to journal through these questions, pay attention to how much more peaceful you feel. ❤️
