LOOK UP!
Before we set a series of half-cocked, or fully-cocked behavioral goals for 2018, let’s give ourselves 20 minutes to crawl up out of the maze of our daily routines, stretch our perspectives, expand the horizon, and move forward knowing we’ve thought some things through.
Today’s exercise is based on elements of the psychosocial developmental model put forth by Erik Erikson. This model provides a fabulous set of themes and tasks that seem to be baked into the human endeavor of growth whether we like it or not, whether we’re aware of it or not.
Much like the various elements baked into a training program, we don’t make all the adaptations simultaneously, nor do we try to do everything every session. We prioritize, we stay consistent. We grow stronger.
Please work through as many of the questions below as you like. However, don’t feel like you’ve got to respond exhaustively to them. Pick ones that you are drawn to, work for the prescribed amount of time, and come back to it whenever you’re damn good and ready. I see any work at this level of reflection as money in the personal development bank.
The goals:
- Clarify what you have learned about yourself as a person and a professional over the term.
- Feed the seeds that meet the needs. (Build on strengths)
- Fill in some gaps. (Address weaknesses)
Exercise 1:
Set a 15-minute timer on your phone and think back over what you’ve implemented this fall term. Good, bad, ugly. No judgment zone. No self-editing. Brutal and impeccable honesty.
TRUST
- What examples do you have of a time where you took action based on a deeper sense of trusting your intuition? How did it work out? What would you have done differently?
- Who do you have in your life that you trust completely and can talk 100% honestly with?
AUTONOMY
- What examples do you have of a situation where you tested the limits of your abilities? This could be accepting a work or life related challenge that required you to grow or take a risk. How did it work out? What would you have done differently?
- Where have you seen others do that same thing? How did it work out for them? What might they have done differently in your opinion?
ROLE IDENTITY
- How has your role at work, home, or in your personal relationships changed over the term? What’s different about your level of functioning and the quality of interactions in these contexts?
- How much of that change was driven by you? How much was in response to other’s needs?
Exercise 2: Check it against your values!
Set a 5-minute timer on your phone and consider your responses to exercise 1 in light of your top 3 or 4 set of values.
What (from your responses above) are totally on point with your values and when did you make decisions outside of your values as a person and a professional? Good, bad, ugly. No judgment zone. No self-editing.
Exercise 3: Habit Rehab
What do you need to take with you moving forward and what will you leave behind?
- What are the strengths (what did you do well) from the examples above? How can you build on those?
- What are the gaps (what did you not do so well) from the examples above? How can you address those more effectively next time?
What support and what accountability systems/strategies are (or need to be) in place to get this done?
Get in touch if you’d like to chat about knocking this bad-boy out.
Simply the best,
Dan Frantz
503-891-3624
Personal Growth Ambassador
Agent of Good Will
