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1/ We have 63 badass productivity geeks from around the world enrolled in my and @TaylorPearsonMe's Annual Review workshop this weekend. I wanted to outline my thinking on year-end reviews here, and why I think they're so critical
2/ Extensive research has shown that there are two moments in any experience that define your memory of it: the peak and the end (the Peak-End Rule). You can't do much about the peak of 2018 at this point, but the end is absolutely in your control
3/ Who cares how you remember 2018? It was a year in your precious life, a stepping stone to everything you are and will become. You literally have the opportunity to (re)tell the story of what it means, what you learned, what you will take with you into 2019
4/ The emerging field of psychological capital shows that your perception of your own success, progress, learning, and growth can provide you (or rob you) of hope, motivation, clarity, focus, resilience. Your self-efficacy depends directly on your self-perception
5/ It's hard to influence your self-perception during the year, when you're in the thick of things. Everything seems so dramatic and important. It is only at the end of the year when you can look back with true perspective and objectivity on the year as a whole
6/ The first stage I take ppl through is Remember: packaging up your favorite songs, photos, videos, memories, projects, trips, notes, etc. in one place. They are always absolutely floored at how many incredible experiences they've had in a year, once they're all in one place
7/ This practice also makes it much easier to refer to these valuable bits of knowledge and precious memories in the future. You can honestly get away with being disorganized the entire year if you end it with just a quick bout of "packaging up"
8/ Second stage is Connect: a series of prompts and exercises to "connect the dots" – what did you learn, what breakthroughs did you have, which goals accomplished and not and why, how did you do on values/principles, what latent desires have been unexpressed? It's some deep shit
9/ My approach is bottom-up and emergent: we start with tangible things and allow insights to emerge organically, trusting our inner selves to speak to us. Doing this in a group is also VERY cool, because you will see yourself through others' insights
10/ Third stage is Create: we create an "artifact" that summarizes/distills the entire year in one tangible, non-digital object. I have tons of examples and this part is really fun. Then we "create" 2019 with a one-word theme, new goals, intentions, systems, habits
11/ In case you didn't notice, these 3 stages perfectly parallel the stages in my online course Bldg a Second Brain (Capture, Organize, Share) and Taylor's course The Effective Entrepreneur (Review, Reflect, Plan). It's all one system at different levels of abstraction!
12/ We decided to join forces because Taylor's course takes a "top-down" approach, starting with a 25-year vision and breaking it down into quarterly, weekly, daily routines. I start from tangible files and notes and insights and build up to an intersecting long-term vision
13/ We decided to do a two-part online workshop because it can be hard to complete an Annual Review on your own if you're not extremely disciplined. Having two guides and a group of fellow reviewers gives you a time box of 24 hours and many examples and stories from others
14/ We'll also share dozens of templates, checklists, frameworks, examples we've gathered from years of researching and testing. This isn't just an annual review, it's a complete revolution of your personal and professional effectiveness in a box. With live support!
15/ I am also running a live version of Bldg a Second Brain for the first time in more than a year, from Jan. 16-Feb. 6 (included in our bundle). So a a couple weeks after you plan your year, you can join a new cohort of old and new second-brain-builders led by me
16/ So here it is, with about 24 hours left until the offer expires. Join us! learn.fortelabs.co/p/building-a-s…
17/ Here's my blog post explaining the full details: praxis.fortelabs.co/theannualrevie…
