This is part of my Get Better Friday, all about being a better leader. Each piece is about me describing what I’ve been practicing to help me become a better leader and coach for my team, my career and my personal life.
This week:
Close your eyes and imagine you’re with several of your closest friends, family and coworkers at Thanksgiving next year. Someone asks you, “What was your proudest accomplishment in 2020?”
What do you WANT to say?
One of the biggest moments that changed my perspective on where I was taking my career was this mindset. Often we ask what we’ve done in the last year. But, what do you want to say you’ve accomplished? As leaders we are always trying to grow, but the grind of daily tasks can get in our way to thinking about the future. Don’t just use your email as a todo list, use this weekend to think about 2020.
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Read more about this topic: Seth Godin: A Year From Now
Brass Ring Daily: Three of You is Better Than One
All this week on LinkedIn and in the newsletter that’s coming out today, I’ve been talking about – In 2019 what are the things, the process, the articles, the blogs that I read, implemented or started using that help me get better in 2019. At the beginning of the year I took on a new role at my company, becoming the Digital Marketing Manager, which was like a dream come true. It’s the role that I always wanted to be in.
But, it was also a thing that I needed to put my money where my mouth is. I had said I was able to do this and then I actually have to do it, so I had to put my money where my mouth is. I knew that I had to get better. There was lots of things I needed to do and I wanted to practice at them. So I’ve been sharing those things all this week and what I wanted to share today, in this video, was a mindset that I took on right around this time year last year.
When I found out I would be moving into this role, this mindset really helped me and I wanted to share, I think its extremely powerful. Let’s start with a little story.
It’s Thanksgiving, this video coming out right after Thanksgiving. I want you to imagine you invited me over for Thanksgiving to your house. We’re out on the patio, we’re having a drink, and I ask you,
“What’s your biggest accomplishment in 2019?”
What you say? What were your biggest accomplishments in 2019? What did you do? What are the things that you are most proud of? What you tell someone, I got these things done. Is it work? Is it personal? Family? What is it that you got accomplished in the last 12 months?
It’s really hard to think about those kinds of things in retrospective, right? You can think of “I did this right” or “I did that”, “I did this one thing”. You can kind of give us a list of stuff, but if you had to just give one or two things, what are the one or two biggest accomplishments that you had in 2019? Having that in mind was add to it.
This time next year, at Thanksgiving, you invite me back (you enjoy my company for whatever reason). We’re out on the patio and I ask the same question,
“What did you get accomplished in the last year? In the last 12 months, what did you get done in 2020? What’s the most important stuff, the biggest accomplishment that you had? What are you most proud of in the last 12 months?”
What is it that if you say right? What is it, that you would say right now, that you would be proud, excited, happy, that you did in the last 12 months? In my last video I talked about the difference between objectives, goals, and tactics. Well, this kind of thing help me wrap my head around what are my objectives. What is it that I’m actually trying to accomplish that I can put goals to and then have daily tactics to help me get closer.
I would love to hear what you would say. In 12 months, what is your biggest accomplishment that you’re going to have done? Is it getting that promotion, you got a big raise? Are they all work-related stuff? What about family? Got married, had a kid, went on a big trip (Disneyland, Hawaii, saw family that lives on the opposite coast). Is it personal? Like, hit your savings goal, paid off all debt. What is it that you would say next year when we’re both on that patio, holding a beer or soda, and I ask, “Hey, what are you what did you accomplish in the last year?”.
What would you love to say in that moment?
This is what I’ve been thinking about this last year. What is it that I would say, that I would be so proud, if I was able to say? I couldn’t wait! I’d be screaming from the roofs this time next year if I got this done!
What are your things?