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A Ritual for Completing the Year
We’re approaching the end of 2021, the completion of another trip around the sun. I view these year markers as ways to celebrate different aspects of life whether it’s seasons, holidays, birthdays, or personally meaningful events. We can become so stuck both in the mindless monotony of our days and our behavioral patterns. The end of the year presents the opportunity to mark an occasion. It’s also the opportunity to use a ritual of celebration and gratitude to close out the year.
I use a leadership framework that defines your North Star for the next year (for reference, these are my north stars for 2021 and 2020) and an end of year reflection is a nice completion to celebrate how far you’ve come.
This past year, my intention word was white space. From my reflections at the beginning of the year, I shared:
I’ve been able to build a sustainable business in 2020, yet oh-too-often, I’ve been too rigid, too serious, too driven, and too obsessed about hitting financial goals. As I move into year two of the business, I want more magic, more joy, more ease, and a greater sense of flow. White space captures that spirit and intention for me.
Setting an intention makes it more likely that you’ll move in that direction for the year. I’m happy to share that while it’s quite imperfect and there are some days that are still packed, both my work life and personal life feel much more spacious. Paradoxically, in giving myself permission to slow down, I’ve been filled with more energy to get more done.
I’ve taught and applied this leadership North Star framework to multiple groups and 1–1 clients for many years, so it’s been well tested as a useful model to think about aspects of our leadership and professional life. Running through the points of the star is the basis of the year-closing ritual.
1. Projects
Think back on all the things you’ve done this year. Think of the projects and processes you’ve put in place professionally and also at home. Which ones are you most proud of? Which ones did you do for yourself, and not simply to please someone else? Which…
