With a new year comes the excitement of new goals, new challenges, and all the buzz around New Year’s Resolutions and being the best version of yourself. I’m sure as business owners and entrepreneurs, you’re hyper-focused on the potential for 2023, but have you stopped to recognize all that you and your team accomplished last year? Did you see 2022 as a year full of successes or filled with failures?
We’re always moving a mile a minute here at the Academy, but as we wrapped up 2022 my team and I had the chance to reflect on our wins during our annual Department Retreat. We started out by reviewing our quarterly department goals and company goals. We reviewed key metrics and program participation percentages. Before we looked at what we wanted to accomplish in 2023, we did one of the most crucial things, we looked at our accomplishments from the year as a whole. We recognized all of the little and big wins that led to a successful year. We laughed about some of the silly ideas that turned into projects that had us almost pulling our hair out but were completely worth it. The tone of this portion of the meeting is light and celebratory. Of course, we’re already back at our desks planning for 2023, but if we didn’t pause and share the fun moments, the creative ideas, and the true admiration we have for one another, we would be missing out on one of the most satisfying and energizing meetings we have as a team! We would be missing out on the celebration of our wins – big and small.
You might be thinking, ok that’s nice, but how does this apply to me? When you look at the little things, it creates the opportunity for you to operate from a place of gratitude. When you see your wins, you can enjoy them! You deserve it and you should pat yourself on the back and feel good about it. But if you are constantly focused on the next horizon, the big goal, or whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish – you’ll never feel like you are getting anywhere, and over time it will drain your energy without you even realizing it.
How do you enjoy the small wins? I urge you to try the following exercise:
Think of the accomplishments you had last calendar year. It may take a minute to think all the way back to January 2022, but just start writing. The point of this is to look for all of the ways you’ve moved the needle on projects or ideas to a point where YOU see the impact.
Don’t be overly critical, write down any thought that crosses your mind no matter how big or small. For example, did you stick to your calendar appointments? Did you reach out and connect with clients? Did you celebrate fun holidays at the office or with clients?
Don’t just focus on your work life, think about your personal life as well – did you finally go on a hike you’ve wanted to do for months? Or re-organize that closet you have been avoiding? Did you try cooking new recipes that were intimidating at first glance?
Now that you’ve dumped all the thoughts from your brain. Read them. Now read them again. Better yet, invite your team to do the same thing and share your wins together. Let us know how it goes!
Erin Mathew
Director, Projects and Event Planning
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
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