A Leader’s Framework to Help Shape 2023

[00:29] Be Intentional

Hello, beautiful people. So I wanted to share with you a framework that you can do to set yourself up for 2023. And the reason to do this is to be really intentional and purpose driven. So I get a lot of feedback at the end of the year that people didn't accomplish what they wanted to. They want to be more productive. They don't want to be stressed out for the year. 

And the best way to ensure that that doesn't happen is to get ready to be ready, really get intentional about where you're going to spend your time, your energy and also your focus. 

So there are 10 questions and I'm going to step you through them, but before you go through the whole process, I want you to just read through the 10 questions that we invite you to work through. 

And the reason why it's important to go through the questions is so you get an idea of what's ahead. It's a way of priming your mind to get comfortable with this process of reflection and also wanting to move forward. So that's the first step. 

[01:34] What Happened?

The second thing that I'd like you to do is to get out your calendar, for me it's my phone. For some people it might be their diary. For others it could be their journal. And go through everything that you mentioned in your diary or calendar from 2022 and spend at least, you know, 15 minutes going through all of the months. 

So I started with my phone calendar and then I actually went through my journal and I just took some notes because knowing what the questions were up ahead, I was able to then really get clear about what are some of those things that I wanted to capture and think, "Oh yeah, that was a really good thing that I did then, I'd like to do that this year. I totally don't want to do that type of work this year." 

So those are the kinds of things that you might want to capture, but it really is important to review, reflect, and then catch up, based on those questions that you know that you need to get through. 

And for me, I found that to be really useful, because sometimes what we think happened, isn't necessarily so. And I think when you get your calendar out, your journal, and anything else that you capture events in, will give you an idea of what you actually were able to accomplish in the previous year. So that's the third step that I want you to do. 

[03:00] Create a Plan

And then the fourth step is, you're going to create a plan. You're going to put it in your phone. 

So now let's step through the questions. So this is the important part and spend, at least, if you can, spend an hour, set some time aside where you're really intentional about setting yourself up for 2023. 

[03:22] What Was Your Biggest Insight?

So the first question is, what was your biggest insight or awareness? You know, what was the biggest learning that you took away from the past year? 

For me, the biggest learning was in our business getting really clear on our roles and expectations. And once we were really clear about who was expected to do what, and also how much time and energy people wanted to be involved in certain projects, that made such a difference, because then we stopped assuming. 

We were able to get really clear on where we actually spend our time and our energy and our focus. So the question one is what was your biggest insight or awareness for the previous year? 

[04:03] What Are You Most Proud Of? 

Question two was, what achievement are you most proud of? Now, if you're doing this for a personal framework, it could be something personal. 

You might want to do it for yourself and your team. It could be for you and just as a professional framework for you to set yourself up for 2023. 

For me, I actually blended both in. So, one of the biggest achievements for us and that we're proud of is one of our programs, Above the Line, Below the Line. 

It was something that we enjoyed doing. It was easy to implement and it ticked a lot of boxes. We created value, financially it was good for us, and it was something that we know added value to the people that we received feedback from. So that was question two. 

[04:52] What Are Three Things You Don't Want To Continue In 2023?

Question three; what are the three things you did in 2022 that you don't want to do in 2023? So what are three things that you did that you don't want to do? 

So one of them could be, I don't want to work on my birthday or I don't want to do this particular type of work anymore or I didn't delegate, so I know that I don't want to do that again. So what are some three things that you did in 2022 that you don't want to do in 2023? 

[05:21] What Are Three Things You Want To Continue in 2023?

And then question four; what are the three things you did in 2022 that you want to continue to do? The things that you know, work for you, and this is where it was really important if you captured some of those things. 

So for me, some of the things that we did that I really want to continue to do is, I want to have a planning retreat and I want to do that on a regular basis because it really works. 

The other thing I did is I went on a meditation retreat with my daughter, and that was a really special kind of a connection that we had, and that's something that I definitely want to continue on a year-by-year basis, if she does as well. 

[06:02] What Areas In Your Life Are Working For You? 

The next question is, what are the areas in your life that are working for you and how can you enhance them even more? So it's not about, what are the things that aren't working for you, think about what are the things in my life that are working for me? 

So is it my health and my wellbeing? Is it my connections and friendships? Is it my career? Is it my financial independence? So what are those areas in your life that are working for you right now? 

Because what we want to do, there's a certain energy that's created around those because more often than not, when things are working for you, you're usually living your values, seem to be on purpose, things usually have meaning for you, and there is an energy that's created by that. 

So if you want to get more of that, you want to focus on those things that are really working for you right now and see how you can enhance them even more in your life. 

[07:00] What Conscious and Consistent Action Would Make The Biggest Difference In Your Life?

The next question is, what is the one thing that you know, if you did consciously and consistently would make the biggest difference in your life? 

So for some people, it could be something like, I know that if I meditated every day that would make the biggest difference in my life. Or I know that if I plan once a week, and I did it consciously and consistently, that would make the biggest difference for me. 

Or I know that if I had a meal with my team once a month, that would make the biggest difference to me and my team. 

So whether or not it's, you're focusing on you and your business or your career, or whether or not you want to focus personally or professionally, just see what comes up when you're actually answering these questions, because we're always getting intuitive prompts. 

Sometimes our conscious thinking mind then takes over, "No, no, I need to be focusing on this." Just see what bubbles up for you, and that's usually the best and most appropriate and relevant thing to focus on. 

[08:07] What's The Best And Kindest Advice You Could Give Yourself?

Next question is, if you were to give yourself the best and the kindest advice about how you were tracking in your life right now, what would you say to yourself? So if you were to, you know, put your coaching hat on, it might be something like "Jan in most areas, you're tracking pretty good. However, there's one thing I think that, you know, you just need to be kinder to yourself, or you just need to know that things don't always need to be hard, or that, you know, you say that you're going to reach out to the community more, but you really haven't. So what is it that's stopping you, perhaps you need to, you know, get a coach or perhaps you need to connect with someone who is doing it really well." 

So what is the kindest and the most conscious advice that you could give yourself right now? 

And I think it would be interesting that if you did give yourself that advice, if you were to share it with a confidante and someone who is very supportive of you and just see what they would say, just as a comparison. 

[09:12] What Talent Or Strength Did You Demonstrate That Brought Value To Others?

Next question is, what talent or strength did you demonstrate that really brought value to others? Now a strength or a talent could be something like speaking, public speaking. It could be the way in which you present information. 

For me, the talent or the strength that I demonstrated this year was listening. I really focused on conscious and committed listening in most areas or all areas of my life. You know, I didn't get a hundred percent all the right. You can tell my kids that, however it really was a focus for me. 

Whether or not it was a client, whether or not I was on Teams or on a Zoom session or on a webinar, I focused and practiced that skill of listening, and I really did get back what I put out as far as that. 

Because some of the insights that I gained, the feedback that I got, and also the quality of the conversations that I had with people, because I really listened, I really leaned in and listened to what that person was saying and trying to understand what it is that they were, they were sharing with me. 

[10:26] What Is A Limiting Belief That Is Holding You Back?

The second last question is the limiting belief. So what is one of those limiting beliefs that you know is holding you back? 

And when we ask this question of people, some people may not know straight away what a limiting belief is. But a limiting belief is a belief that stops you from growing. It's that little voice inside your head that actually is trying to keep you safe, but it actually stops you from developing and growing and moving towards those dreams and goals and aspirations that you want to create in your life. 

So for example, a limiting belief could be that I need a second degree in order to, and it could be, you know, enhance my career trajectory. Or it could be something like, a limiting belief could be, I need to work hard in order to be successful, or I need to work hard all the time in order to be successful. 

And that's a limiting belief that I know I have. You know that striving as opposed to being really clear and conscious and, like, moving into situations with ease, and also with a level of consciousness that it doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to, like, you don't necessarily need to push through things all the time. 

So spend a little bit of time on thinking about what is that limiting belief, but even that thing about what is limiting you. What is diminishing you? What is stopping you from growing? And what is that thought that's going around in your head that you often think about that actually doesn't feel good and that perhaps is holding you back? 

And once you know that, then you can actually move into, what would I need to believe in order for not to believe in that? Or what would I be doing if I wasn't focusing on that limiting belief? 

[12:26] How Do You Want To Feel?

And then the final question is, how do you want to feel? How do you want to be in the world? And feelings are so important because, really, feelings are signals. They're signals to you about what is going on in your internal world and when you can name them and you can focus on them and then consciously move through them, then you're setting yourself up for a really purpose-driven way of operating. 

So whenever you're feeling frustrated or angry, it's, the only reason you're feeling that is because you're thinking frustrating and limiting thoughts that match it. 

And usually when you're like that, you're actually moving away from your path because your higher mind or source or whatever you want to call it, is always resonating in this beautiful high vibration of optimism, of joy, peace, and love. 

And when you don't feel those things, it just is an indicator that you're off track. And what an indicator that we have, we've got a kind of like internal guidance system. So that's why it's really important to be clear about how do you want to feel? 

So the things that I want to feel is, I want to feel optimistic. I want to feel calm. I want to feel enthusiastic with life. I want to feel appreciative, and those are the feelings that are going to guide my behavior and the way in which I think and feel and move through the world. So again, it's just being really intentional about how you want to feel, and what are those words that are going to form a bit of a criteria for you. 

So, you know, I want to feel enthusiastic, right? So what are those things that feel enthusiastic to me right now? What areas in my life that I am optimistic about? 

And these are some of those guiding feelings that will get you into that good state of being, because when you're in a good state of being, that's when you can really make effective decisions, that you can, you know, have that conversation with someone that perhaps you've been putting off, you've got to get your state, yourself into a really good state of being before you move into action, because then your results are going to be so much more constructive. 

[15:04] Put Your Plan In Your Calendar

So they're the questions that I wanted you to go through. And then we want to put your plan in your calendar. So this is where you get your phone out. 

So after you've answered all of those questions, now I want you to get your phone out and think about what are those areas that were really important to me? 

So for example, what do you want to do yearly? So what's one thing that, you know, that you would love to do yearly? 

So for me, it would be going on a rounding retreat or a meditation retreat with my daughter. 

The second thing is, what do you want to do quarterly? So every three months or so, what is that thing that you want to do? And so for me, it's to have a planning session with my sister face-to-face, so it's not over Zoom or Teams or whatever, it's actually, we find a location and we meet quarterly and so that's one of the things that we're going to do. 

And then what do you want to do monthly? So for you, it could be having a regular face-to-face connection with your team and the purpose of that is to connect, but also to learn something. So that could be something that you put, but I want you to put it in your diary. 

And then I want you to put in, what is something that I want to do weekly? Based on the information and the questions that I answered, what are those things that I know that if I did weekly would really support 2023 being really purposeful and that I'd be proud of? 

And so a weekly thing could be, it could be a meeting or it could be, you're going to, focus on learning a particular area in the business. So once a week you spend, you know, 30 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it is, focusing on that. Because remember, whatever you focus on will actually grow and expand, so we just want to get really intentional about that. 

So we've looked at yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and then daily. 

And daily for me is that daily I'm going to set myself an intention. So every day I have an intention. So the intention could be that I really want to give value, that I really want to have fun. I want to be of service to someone. I want to reach out to a client today and share something that I know that they might find valuable.

So one thing a day, so set an intention daily for you as well. So it could be professional, it could be personal, or it could be both. So there are those things you could do. 

[17:35] Put Your Plan On A Page

And then finally, step five is putting your plan on a page. And this is where we want to write it down and we've put a template together for you and in the template we've got four areas. 

So what are your key focus areas? So based on the information that you've started to capture on those questions, what are some, five to seven key focus areas that you had? 

So for you, a key focus area could be your health and wellbeing. A key focus area could be team cohesion. A focus area could be career development, a focus area could be financial. It could be community, connection, stakeholder relationships. 

Whatever those key areas are, you can't get it wrong. Just have five to seven key focus areas. And then from there, can you wrap a goal around that focus area? 

So for us, a key focus area would be business. So our business is a key focus area and our goal would be to launch our People Leaders App in 2023. Successful launch of our Business App. So that's our goal. 

And then the next is, why are you doing it? You have to have a why statement. So the reason why we're doing it is because we can deliver more value in a way that our clients can consume easily. 

[18:58] Putting The Plan Into Action

And then the last aspect of this plan on a page, what are your key actions? So these are the things that you are going to do because the actions are important, it's important to have intention and then it's important to actually, create some action around it because actions will tell you whether or not you've done it. 

Are you on track or on track? Have I done those actions? And what are some of those actions that will allow you to move into that key focus area that will allow you to perhaps create the goal that you want. 

Now remember you will have a goal and sometimes it's the, well I think it's actually who you become when you reach that goal. It's not necessarily the end point. It's who you are becoming in the process of that. 

And when you're really intentional about it, you are going to get the most out of the process, and also the end result. It may not be exactly how you imagined it. But if you are intentional about that process, and it feels like you are on track, then you're on track. 

So there's that plan on a page, write it down and then we really encourage you to keep it handy and keep it visual. Like, how am I going on that? And especially if you wanted to do it with your team, this is something that you can do with your team. 

And also every fortnight or every month, that could be something that you have a look on at, your plan on a page and see how you're tracking with that. 

On the template, we also have a mantra. How do you want to feel? Because your mantra is, you know, what is the mantra that you want to say to yourself? So what is the voice that you want to continually say to yourself? And for me, my mantra has been, "Everything is always working out for me." 

And it has helped me in so many situations, especially when I was traveling quite a lot and I'd miss the plane or get delayed, I just had to remind myself, everything is always working out for me. And it just kind of like set me and calmed me down in that scenario. So that's something that you can actually have a look at as well. 

So hopefully you take some action, look at the framework. You can change it any way that you want, but I just wanted to share with you what we're doing, with our business and also in our lives, because it's really helped us.