Reflection

I'm sad that I'm just now able to post. It's been too long. I've been in New Mexico at a professional conference for work and a session I attended is the inspiration for this post.
It was given by a collegue , Larry Center - Asst Dean at Georgetown Law School, whom I hold in high regard even though I haven't worked with directly for very long. His session was one of reflection, introspective, potential, and growth; both personal and professional. So without futher ado I will share what I can with you and encourage you to participate.

The session was about setting goals and how to create a life plan whether it be for a year, or 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Through a series of questions, it's amazing how clear your life and intentions can be. Copy and paste everything below into a Word document.

Answer the following sentences/questions with the first thing that pops in your head. Don't overthink your answer:

Set I
1. I am at my best when:
2. I am at my worst when:
3. I am really happy when:
4. I want to be a person who:
5. Someday I would like to:
6. My deepest positive emotions come when:
7. My greatest talents and best gifts are:
8. When all is said and done, the most important things are:
9. Possible life goals for me at this point in my life are:

Set II
1. When I daydream I see myself doing:
2. If I had unlimited resources, what would I choose to do?
3. When I look at my work life, what achievements do I consider of greatest worth?
4. When I look at my personal life, what activities do I consider of greatest worth?
5. What do I consider to by my greatest future contribution to others?
6. What talents do I have, whether developed or undeveloped?
7. Are there things I should really do (eve if I've dismissed then before)? What are they?

Set III
1. Who has served as a positive role model for you and had a significant impact on your life?
2. Why did they have such a big impact?
3. What qualities did they possess that you want to emulate?
4. What other character traits do you admire most in other people?

The next part goes like this:
Write your current age on a piece of paper. Now write 10 below that number and add the two. This is how old you will be in 10 years. It's powerful to see it on paper, it has a great impact.

Choose five roles you have in your life. Some examples are (parent, spouse, church member, volunteer, friend, etc.)
Write them down.
Next to each role, write down the name of the first person you think of. For example, I chose parent and the person is Cole.

Now, imagine you are at a big birthday celebration in your honor (10 years from now). For each of the people named who are associated with the roles in your life, write a tribute statement for you from each of them. What would they say during a speech at your birthday party in front of everyone?

Re-read the tribute statements out loud.
Now ask yourself, what do you have to do to make those tribute statements real and true?

If you left your job today (or your position as volunteer, or church member, etc.) how is it a better place because of you?

Some food for thought. I thought this was a very powerful exercise, a much needed escape into my inner thoughts, desires, priorities, that get lost in the day to day rig-a-ma-roll of life.

TIPS:
1. Focus on the relationship - success comes from people not things. What people can you have a positive impact on?

2. Emotional Bank Account - this is the amount of trust in your relationships based on a scale of 0-10 (0 being none and 10 being infinite). It also includes things like kindness, curitosity , being a role model, not gossiping about people - people are always watching. How do you want to be thought of?

3. Be Proactive - think ahead. Focus on your circle of influence, not your circle of concern.

4. Life is a portrait and you are the artist - what is your life portrait?