A Highly recommended activity for Professionals
Many years ago, I learned a fabulous tip from Sanjay, my mentor. We used to catch up for lunch in San Diego. I was early in my career and being the wiser one, Sanjay would share insights from his career. During one meeting, he suggested updating my resume during this year-end break. I was happy with my role and scoffed at the suggestion to which he patiently explained his reasoning.
You need to find time to tune your compass.
Resumes are updated when people are looking for jobs. There’s not much time for internal reflection there. How will you know if you are making progress toward your goals?
We all have work goals, learning goals, and areas we want to collaborate with others.
Tracking them on a weekly basis is not always possible. Ideally, a six-month reflection works but we get caught up. Instead, just like your annual health check-up, we need to make time for it. But, doesn’t this get captured in work reviews? It depends on how deep you get to reflect – we capture the highlights, sort of like your resume.
We need to make time for detailed introspection. Allow it room to expand and the time of the year is perfect for that.
People are in a relaxed mood and many are taking time off. You will have fewer interruptions and can devote time for deep reflection. Let your mind run free and take notes.
What do I recommend as the plan for action?
Take a notebook – online or offline doesn’t matter. Have pages that cover the following:
- Work Goals
- Learning Goals
- Collaboration Goals
- Family Goals
- Health Goals
Add more as required.
For each page, you want to capture near and long-term goals.
For each goal, ask yourself two questions:
- Where am I today?
- What actions should I take?
I like to keep it free-flowing. More details, the merrier.
How much time to devote?
This exercise takes days. The first day usually gets the brain dump out onto your notebooks. Give yourself a day or so to let latent thoughts emerge. Brainstorm with your partner or a mentor if you’d like. After a couple of days, your thoughts are completely out onto your notebook.
From there, determine the near and long-term actions you will dedicate time to.
If you would like a template, just shoot me a note.