#122 Let’s Go DEEP One Last Time

The Tools I Use to Learn From the Year

Dec 13, 2022

I love Christmas. I think you know this. Anyone who has read this newsletter for more than a year (which is many of you) knows that it’s Christmas, Brené Brown and, rest for me when it comes to things that light me up. After storytelling.

But what I especially love is the FEELING of the season. The lightness, the togetherness, and the opportunity for reflection. The sudden sense of space and time to look around, look back and ask yourself, “what did I just do?” And, “was it what I wanted and needed?”

This season has been unseasonably busy for me (mostly due to poor planning on my part and an unwillingness to say no to my clients) but I will still set aside a day to bake cookies with my friends and another to take stock of 2022. It’s been a rough year for so many of us in so many different ways. But it happened and now here we are, and my attitude is always to figure out what I can learn from it. Good things happened too, no denying, but I must say I learned A LOT this year. About myself, about running a business, about my relationships, and about who I want to be as a storyteller as I share the skill with others.

I use a few different tools for reflection and I wanted to share them with you today. To give you a chance to consider taking stock and clearing space for what’s next in the new year.

First, My Go To

Every year for the past few years a good friend of mine has sent me the year compass booklet. It’s a great simple tool to print out, fill out, and get to reflecting. I find it to be the simplest and least overwhelming approach to considering the current year and preparing for the next. And it’s a free resource that’s updated every year. Yah, open source!

A Storytelling, Self, & Writing Specific Review

Audre Lorde is the teacher we all deserve but rarely get. This questionnaire to oneself from the feminist writer and academic are power questions. Questions that when I first read them I thought, “I am not ready.” Which is exactly why they’ll be the first ones I dive into. 2022 was a low writing year for me. It was, for a number of reasons, probably the least writing I’ve done in a year in my entire lifetime (preverbal years aside). As I think about what I want to write in 2023 and the why and how of it, I think these will help.

THE AUDRE LORDE QUESTIONNAIRE TO ONESELF

What are the words you do not have yet? [Or, “for what do you not have words, yet?”]
What do you need to say? [List as many things as necessary]
“What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?” [List as many as necessary today. Then write a new list tomorrow. And the day after.]
If we have been “socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition”, ask yourself: “What’s the worst that could happen to me if I tell this truth?”* [So, answer this today. And every day.]

My Planner Review

I have about three different planners in addition to my google calendar. Each one helps me stay clear and grounded throughout the year in different areas of my life and growth journey. At the end of the year, I like to go back and reflect on how I filled out each monthly review and what kind of shifts I’ve seen. I use the Success System Calendar by a mentor, former client, and brilliant founder Karlyn Percil-Mercieca (keep an eye out for a Storytellers I Admire feature with her soon). And I use the Many Moons Lunar Planner by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener.

A Quick One: MF Year in Review

Marie Forleo is a business coach and teacher I’ve followed for years. I’m also a mentor in her B-School and Time Genius programs. In Time Genius she shares an approach to organizing and reviewing your business and personal achievements for the year and setting yourself up for success in the next. It’s a paid program, so I can’t give THAT to you, but she shares a simplified approach for a year in review in an episode of her youtube show MarieTV that is also super powerful. This is a nice way to dip your toes into review if you don’t want to take a full day to go deep.

I get it. Right now you’re deep in holiday planning, buying gifts if that’s your ministry, preparing for family time, and attending parties. It seems like a lot to add on at the end of the year. But I’ve found it can be super helpful in getting clear on how your story has evolved and where you may want it to go in the future. May use a day in that in between time after Christas and before the new year. If you give one a try, let me know in the comments how it went. And if you dive into a calendar, definitely let me know what you think.

*Quick Note: This will be my final note of 2022. I’ve made it a practice to take an extended break at the end of the year from all work including this newsletter as I clear my mind, take stock, make plans, and just make space for a new year. And also enjoy the most wonderful time of the year. Sending you the best of the season and looking forward to sharing more storytelling insights, tips, and resources to help you communicate and share your unique beautiful big story with impact.

Happy new year, happy Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, Chrismukkah and all the things in between. Enjoy the season and find time to rest, take in stories and share your own. I’ll see you in January.

A (Seasonal) Story Well Told

A gentle reminder from one of my favourite instagram creators to go softly into the holiday season.

morganharpernichols

A post shared by Morgan Harper Nichols (@morganharpernichols)

Take care until 2023, dear reader.