As the year comes to an end, I like to evaluate. And I like a new toy that helps me go wider, deeper, more thoroughly into where I’ve been so that I can catapult forward.
A client passed this nifty tool to me, and I would like to share it with you:
https://yearcompass.com
It’s a downloadable free workbook that helps you evaluate last year and shape the next. Sit with it, take your time with it, and bow venerably to your 2024 accomplishments. There are more of them than you think. Then rest a bit as the workbook instructs, and envision 2025.
I believe that what gets measured gets improved, but what’s qualitatively evaluated can be appreciated with nuance. To grow, take stock of how you’ve grown in the past.
Would you like more ideas to select from? I gotcha. Here are a couple more ideas from five years ago. Goodness, what a difference five years makes!
+++++++
And in the spirit of the year end recap, I wanted to explore some themes that you, my clients, enjoyed exploring with me in 2024. This year, you put an emphasis on the four S’s: Spirituality, Social, Skill and Surprise.
SPIRITUALITY
Ah, such an uncomfortable word. I launched a multi-client workshop program last year, and the final session was all about the spirit. I define the ever-ambiguous spirituality as a sense of something bigger, larger, interconnected. That which leaves the body when a person dies, but remains in the hearts of those who knew them. Life that transcents
Spirituality too often gets tangled up with religion, and that’s where I find people start tuning out. Here’s one man’s story of finding spirituality, separate and tangled with religion. I’ve recommended David Brooks’ books to many of you. I hope you enjoy his story of finding spirituality.
SOCIAL
For years, our surgeon general has been cautioning us about loneliness. Decades ago, Harvard researcher Robert Putnam started writing a series of books about it. Putnam’s worst fears about the decline of civilization walking in lock step with a decline in connectedness are coming true. And the fabulous Netflix documentary, Join or Die, tracks Putnam’s original vision from warning to greatest fears realized.
Yes, most of you took a plunge after the US Election day. What can we do amidst great social pain and fear? Connect. Connect deeply. And the magic word that professionals are using when it comes to connection is attunement: awareness of another and the ability to connect. I always think of Avatar, and the line “I see you” when it comes to attunement. The magic is in the music – attunement creates harmony.
Here’s a wonderful audio interview with Robert Putnam about his work over the years. I found it mighty and inspiring. And he’s my new role model for how to do 83 – the energy in this man can light a small city. He has great ideas for what we can do to repair the social rifts and it’s not hard. But we need to listen and act.
SKILL
I am not a believer that you should follow your passion when it comes to your career. In Cal Newport’s best-selling book So Good They Can’t Ignore You, he shares his research that supports this point.
Cal and I believe that pursuing interests and curiosities will lead to growth and skill development. Now that I write that, it sounds suspiciously like the Montessori educational model. You’ll learn and excel if you pursue your own interests and curiosities.
You’ll feel passionate about a career when you’ve developed skills that align with your interests. The more interested you are, the more skilled you become. Just ask any stat-nerd sports fan.
So when I read Adam Grant’s opinion piece about not praising the effort, but praising the quality of the work I got squirmy. The dominating parenting philosophy for the last decade plus was about “effort and attitude”. In Grant’s classroom it’s about output.
Hopefully our constant instruction about effort will evolve into skill-development when they’re trying something they care about. Because at some point, getting the puck in the net does matter if you want to win.
SURPRISE
My last and final S for the year is a surprise, and the value of it. I spent some time this year with my kids in Las Vegas, Salem MA and Orlando, FL (Universal). I know, the first two aren’t really known for kid-centric stuff, but believe me, we found the stuff.
Surprise is magic. In fact, my son and I went to see Matt Franco’s magic show in Las Vegas (which I cannot recommend highly enough) and it was spectacular. Magic moves through surprise.
And yet, at Universal, where we did ALL the rides, ESPECIALLY the upside down ones, I saw that while Universal did their best to keep us engaged on those lines, most heads were in iPhones. There’s all kinds of delightful things happening around you if you keep your heads up. But we’re losing access. The lack of attunement to one’s surroundings was, well, sad.
I wrote an article this holiday season on the art of surprise, and how vital it is to keep the holidays spirited.
I hope you find ways to surprise yourself this coming year. I know you will.
Love and best wishes for 2025,
Allison
