4 Super Simple Questions I Ask Myself to Review the Past Year

2017 Year in Review

1. What did I do, create, or experience this year that I’m really proud of?

2. What mistakes did I make that taught me something? What lessons did I learn that I can leverage for the future? 

3. What am I open to letting go of? (beliefs, systems, relationships)

4. Who could I be if I let go of all the disempowering stories I tell myself?

How and Why to Get Your Mastermind Group On

Pick a Time to Meet Regularly. We all have busy schedules. You’ll avoid a great deal of stress if you pick a time and stick with it. Gradually, people will learn to schedule their priorities around your weekly gathering.

Pick a Place to Meet Regularly. Scrambling to find a place each week will eventually lead to frustration and interest will taper off. Pick a spot and stick to it.

Request People Show Up on Time. Get off on the right foot. Showing up on time means everyone values the time of their colleagues. This creates a good “contagion” and an environment where ideas can cross-pollinate.

Create an Environment of Mutual Respect. Author and speaker Stephen Covey said, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” We learn by listening to one another even when we feel compelled to speak. Listening is essential if we want to learn.

Set Goals. Having actionable objectives each member can work on before the next meeting gives them something to put their energy and focus towards. With group accountability, positive reinforcement, you’ll gradually begin to see the progress you’re making towards your goals.

Benefits:

A platform where ideas can cross-pollinate in a supportive and “non-judgy” environment can do wonders to mobilize your idea into action.

Having an “accountability partner,” is a powerful way to stick to your goals. Having someone hold your feet to the fire and make sure you do what you say you’ll do will help you build momentum and consistency.

When you have to tell someone why you didn’t follow through on something you said you would it raises your standards.

Your sense of personal accountability is strengthened.

Living on a Whole New Level

Over the years, I've worked very hard to cultivate strong daily habits and the right mindset. I've read the books, joined the newsletters, and attended some of the webinars. 

Still, we always have the ability to raise our game to another level. And in the process of trying to do so, I've noticed some holes in my approach. I've started to take inventory of what's holding back. And sometimes we've been trucking along doing the same thing for so long we don't even know what our bad habits are anymore, or how we're getting in our own way.

For instance, I realize I need to eradicate excuses. It's holding me back from reaching the next place I want to get to. I also need to develop a stronger heart/soul mentality as well. 

What I'm slowly discovering is that EVERYTHING needs to work in unison. If they don't any progress you gain is not foundational or sustainable. Being really proficient in one arena of your life and not in another will eventually catch up with you. It's like working out every day, but then going home and not eating well.

Once we get aligned mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually and become protective of things like time with family, education over entertainment, and eradicating toxic people from our lives, I have a feeling we'll really start living. 

Failure is Not the Problem - Our Reaction Is

You've heard me say, the greatest gift being an actor has given me is learning to have no fear of failure. Instead, developing the capacity to lean into what most frightens me. This is a skill that took years to cultivate, but will undoubtedly serve me the rest of my life.

What I discovered is that failure is a necessary part of success. Think about it, the two literally cannot exist without each other. What's most important about setbacks is how we frame them in our minds.

I believe failure is just deferred progress. Each time something does not go our way we're instantly given a set of choices, which is itself a gift. You can take a setback personally and allow it to thwart any future attempts towards your goals. Or, you can use it as a Masters Class to ask yourself a series of questions:

-- Why didn't this work?
-- What could I have done differently?
-- What did I learn from this experience?
-- What strategies do I need to implement so it doesn't happen again?
-- How can I pass on the lessons from this experience to others?

In time, you will condition your mind not to get worked up about failures. You'll learn to take failure less personally. And once you develop the skill of taking setbacks in stride and not allowing it to stop you your capacity for innovation and bold risks grows.

Create. Fail. Rinse and repeat. 

Messy Room

Getting started on a goal can feel a lot like cleaning a messy room. You're totally overwhelmed and have no clue where to begin.

You might start by folding the socks at your feet before making your bed then working your way toward tossing those dirty clothes in the hamper. The trick is to start.

After a little while you'll actually see yourself making progress, which will instill in you a sense of confidence to continue. In time, your mind and body will work in unison and you'll just know what to do next.

Keep at it and the place will look entirely different. You might even have a hard time recognizing where you are, marveling at how far you've come.

Fall in Love with the Plateau

In George Leonard's book, Mastery he talks about the importance of falling in love with the plateau.

"To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress and the fruits of accomplishment, then serenely to accept the new plateau that waits just beyond them. To love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life."

In other words, we need to protect our desire for mastery from the daily onslaught of noise against it; to pay no mind to the get rich quick, lose weight quick, and take this pill to solve all your problems stories we're told. 

Instead, becoming great at something requires falling in love with the process itself even when you feel as though you're getting nowhere.

You'll derive satisfaction not from the likes or followers you get, but the satisfaction you'll gain in starting and committing to something important to you.