The One Question for 2018
Your personal plan for 2018 begins with:
- Exploring ROE (Return on Energy). What jazzed you up in 2017?
- Exposing things that didn’t work. What sucked the life out of you in 2017?
- Forgetting about others. How will you focus on things within your control?
An exercise to find clarity:
Feel the victory:
With answers to the above questions in mind, take an imaginary trip one year into the future. Pages, one by one, fly off the calendar.
See yourself looking back from the future. It’s December 31, 2018. It’s New Year’s Eve again.
Your hands are lifted in victory. Fireworks are exploding. People who matter most to you are slapping your back and giving you high fives.
Weep for joy. Feel the victory.
The one question for 2018:
With your hands raised in triumph, ask yourself, “What one thing did you accomplish in 2018 that made you lift your hands in victory?”
Stick with one thing.
A basic plan:
Keep your victory in mind. Travel, month by month, back from the future to the present.
Adopt Peter Block’s insight, “The answer to how is yes.” Worry about “how” to accomplish your victory later.
What high level goals come to mind? Don’t worry about getting specific at this point. You might be able to set monthly goals. If not, go with what comes to mind.
Record your thoughts and insights for future reflection and conversation.
Reflection:
Consider ROE. (The first question on this post.)
How do the things that give you energy fuel your future victory?
A team:
Great achievements require teams.
- Who needs to be part of the journey with you?
- How are they reaching their own victories by helping you reach yours?
- How might you approach them?
What might you add to this exercise to make it more effective?
How might you use this exercise for others?
Hi Dan:
I love this and I am putting your Personal Plan 2018 posts to practical application. I made a list of the things that “jazzed me up in 2017”; the things that “sucked the life out of me” in 2017 and how I will “focus on those things I can control” (my personal action plan) for 2018. Of course, I will not share my complete exhaustive list here, but I did notice it came down to 2 things for me.
First, those things that I was jazzed up about seemed to always have the ability for me to be outward and make a positive difference either with people or what I was doing. And second, the things that sucked the life out of me often times come down to my own lack of self confidence in certain areas or scenarios which seem to limit me. I’ve also noticed that I lack the support system (outside of my wife and some close friends) I need to make this endeavor a success.
So for my 2018 Personal Plan I will be working on the areas I have addressed above!
Thank you so much for your help this year Dan with my leadership journey.
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Super New Year!!
Steve
Hey Steve. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and reflections. I feel like the personal insight you shared is very powerful. You have my best for success in 2018. Please feel free to drop a note via email to let me know how things are going. dan at leadershipfreak dot com.
Steve, hit the nail on the head with “Focusing, lack of support, confidence building” are definite items we all probably need to look at in some form or another. For me it is “better listening to others”, let others speak entirely, specifically on the Telephone, sometimes “a pause” is misconstrued as a finished on my part, so “don’t interrupt”!
Being thankful for another day is always Jazz for me!
It’s great to think of simple things like letting others finish speaking. Frankly, the difference between simple and easy is incredible. It’s a simple thing. It’s not an easy thing.
Dan, so true, if everything was easy in life we won’t have these discussions. Many things are “easier said than done”!