Week 2: RESONATE
Today we’re RESONATING on last year’s achievements from our Week 1 homework of Looking Back Before we Look Ahead. This important step acknowledges how much we have grown and where our values may have changed. What resonated with me 10 years ago might not resonate with me anymore.
This sounds so simple. Maybe you’re already doing it.
Checking in and allowing myself to feel whether or not it RESONATES was an unlearning process.
I’m a recovering NASA engineer.
I like data, facts, logic, plans, and processes. I have also felt the weight of all that data, facts, logic, plans, and processes stifle creativity, growth, and awareness.
Dr. Brené Brown describes courage and vulnerability as two-sides of the same coin. I had been trying to engineer uncertainty and risk out of my life. But the cost was showing up authentically and courageously. No act of courage lacks vulnerability.
This isn’t just an internal struggle; it happens in our external environments to re-enforce ways to stay safe.
I remember a chief engineer of a NASA vehicle stating, “In God we trust, but in all others I expect you to bring me data!” Of course, we hope that NASA bases its decisions on data, but sometimes we make instinctual, creative leaps even in science.
So if you are wondering, “can she really be telling me that all I need to do is REFLECT on what I accomplished and RESONATE with respect to how much I liked it to know what to do next?” The answer is YES! It’s more simple than we realize. It’s an unlearning of what we thought we had to do to be successful, and an honor that we intuitively already know what we want based on how it resonates with us.
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”
– Jean Shinoda Bolen
Analyzing with a Fine-Tooth Comb Instructions:
- When was I the happiest last year? What made me happy?
- When was I the most stressed last year? What stressed me?
- When was I the busiest? When was it the slowest? Is there a correlation to happiness or stress for me in how busy or slow it was?
- What felt so important last year before I accomplished it, but I almost forgot to list it looking back? Why did I think that was so important?
- What feels really important looking back on it now that at the time didn’t register as being significant?
- Are there any correlations to the order of events when I look back on last year in hindsight? For example, were there any events that happened that linked together in ways I never would have expected? I had a situation happen in January that seemed to get worse before it got better and my dog died right at the same time. Looking back on it in hindsight, I can see that I was releasing a lot of my foundation to create space for new growth even though it was so hard!!!
- What would I like to repeat again?
- What do I definitely not want to repeat going forward?
- Add your own questions…
These thought-provoking questions are all intended to allow you to feel what truly RESONATES with you right now. It doesn’t matter if it’s different from what it used to be. It doesn’t matter if it’s not what other people think. It doesn’t even matter if it makes sense or not.
You may organically be feeling a need to adjust your goals based on this REFLECTION and RESONATION. That’s the entire point of this exercise! Why set goals for things we didn’t exactly want? Next week we’ll be refreshing our goals based on these assignments.
That’s the tool for part 2 of your strategic planning journey! Reference more tools on the following posts and bookmark this site to come back to whenever you want to work on this more.
Happy Planning!!