Spring is here! The daffodils are out, the sun is definitely trying to shine and it’s ever so slightly warmer, or at least my cardis and jumpers aren’t so thick!
When the seasons change, I always think it’s a good idea to do a quick check in with yourself and your career or your business and see what’s happening for you.
Now I run my own business I do the same, often with a business coach or a trusted peer. I think about how well my business is doing. What’s working, what isn’t. Where do I need to focus, what do I need to pay a bit more attention to? And, most importantly, what ideas should I drop?
But I do the same for my health and general wellbeing and other areas of my life. Am I exercising enough, eating the right food or do I need to sort myself out? Am I spending enough time with friends and family or do I need to pay more attention to those I care for? What do I need to be, do or have to feel happier and healthier? What can I let go of? What personal development would I like to do?
Reviewing things regularly gives me clarity but also inspiration and motivation to take things forward.
So why not grab a cuppa and spend a few minutes checking in with yourself. This is a quick brainstorming exercise so you don’t have to spend ages on it.
You can download a lovely tool prepared by the Coaching Tools Company to help you review what’s happening here, or journal or reflect on these questions.
In general, how are things going for you? What are you happy with? What do you think needs tweaking? Now get more specific.
First, think about what you would like to stop doing.
What habits have you started to pick up that aren’t helping you right now?
What routines are you getting into that may not be useful?
What thought patterns are starting to trip you up?
Is there anyone you’re spending time with who isn’t helping you?
Next, think about what you would like to do less of.
Are you working too hard? Are you over-servicing your clients?
Are you falling into the perfectionism trap? Are you worrying too much or overthinking?
What is draining your energy?
Now think about what you want to keep doing. What’s going well?
You might have a good exercise routine or be meditating every day.
Maybe you feel like you can take on the world.
Perhaps your work/life balance is in a good place.
Whatever those things are, savour them, acknowledge that some things are doing just fine and resolve to keep it up.
Turn your attention to what you want to do more of.
It may be something that’s going really well for you, and you can see the benefit of spending more time and energy on it. It may be something that you feel you’ve been neglecting.
Perhaps now the weather’s a bit better and the evenings are lighter you can exercise at a different time of day or even just get out more.
Lastly, think about what you want to start doing but be careful not to come up with a huge list of things to do!
That’s not the object of the exercise. Just think of one or two things that you could start doing that would improve your life in some way, that would make a difference to how you feel or how you do things.
So, you may decide you want to start delegating more, or setting clearer boundaries with someone or being more assertive and saying no to things that don’t interest you.
You may feel that you want to increase your prices.
You may decide you’ll sit in the garden for 10 minutes and enjoy the sunrise or sunset.
You may believe that your life would be improved by taking every Friday off, or only working between 10 and 3 each day.
And if you can’t start doing it straight away think about what steps you can take to make it achievable soon.
And there it is, you have completed your first quarterly review. Well done!
If you would like to talk this over with me and find out how I could help you book yourself in for a quick chat here or give me a call on 07485 248 353.
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