I was thinking about what I don't want to take for the next year and I thought about the imposter syndrome right away. I don't know if it ever happened to you, but I already lost count of how many times I thought I was a fraud.
In the previous post Planning in Chaos, I shared with you the first step of planning: Review the last 12 months through good questions. As I mentioned earlier, this is an exercise in sincere analysis, a review of your year, involving the various areas of your life. In the link above you can check out the questions, ranging from how your relationships have evolved, through health care to career growth.
I wrote my answers and some brought me a good feeling of accomplishment (Let’s celebrate!!!), but others told me that I could have had better results (Let’s work!!!). Reading what I answered gave me clarity about the areas I have to focus on and in which there was little or no action. I felt uncomfortable in some, but also satisfaction and fulfillment in others.
But now, what to do with it?
This is still a brainstorming phase - reading the answers and reflecting on what you want to keep, prioritize or abandon. As it is not usually possible to be satisfied in 100% of the areas, it is necessary to define priorities and focus the energy on the areas to be improved. It is worth mentioning that it is very important to know what you are giving up or postponing so that there is no regret after another year. As you cannot focus on everything at the same time, the secret is to remain attentive and not to give up or postpone important aspects for a long time.
Take advantage of the magic that surrounds this time of the year and do this exercise, because right ahead of us, we have a new opportunity to start over.
So come on, how to do it differently in practice?
I start with the answers that made me uncomfortable, for example, the “impostor syndrome” that I referred to at the beginning of the text. I have already lost count of how many times I have questioned myself and doubted myself. This item will certainly move on to a development plan, where I will put in a practical way what actions I can take to improve this aspect. What will I say to myself when a thought along that line comes to mind? What moments of success will I remember to scare away any doubt about not being good enough for something? Am I comparing myself to the best I can be today or am I comparing myself to someone else? What else can I learn to feel even more confident?
If Michele Obama had to fight hard against impostor syndrome and won, then so I can!
"I think a lot of women and a lot of girls from all walks around carrying that kind of question. How I got over it is how I got over anything. Hard work. Every time I doubted myself, I said to myself, I'm going to work even harder, I'm going to let my job speak for itself. I still do that. I feel like somehow, I still have something to prove. Because of the color of my skin, the shape of my body, the way people are judging me." Michele Obama
Continuing the exercise, in the other block of answers, I will look at the aspects that even feeling satisfied with, I do not want to sit back on as they are very important to me, such as health and independent studies. With regard to health, even though I have healthy food habits, since the pandemic started, I left the gym. To make up for this lack of workout routine, I decided to keep on going for runs in order to reduce the impacts on my physical and mental disposition. I started running on the street, but due to Michigan's low temperatures, running was restricted to the treadmill.
Regarding the studies, although I have completed what was foreseen in the schedule for this year, new themes interested me and other possibilities are being created. So in my record of responses, in the area of development, learning will be my field of focus in 2021.
Take notes of this thought building process, this step will be useful for detailed planning of actions to make real the changes you wish. Having a clear idea of the path you want to take is what gives us, in periodic monitoring, the certainty that we are making life happen! And even when it happens in an uncontrollable scenario, like what we're experiencing now, it's easier to identify what to get around and what to accept, and that helps us to see other possibilities.
I want to encourage you to answer the questions if you haven't already done so and then decide the aspects that you want to focus on your goal planning and skills development. I'll talk about it in the next post! Let's go, shall we? I'm sure it will help you build your 2021.
You want to talk about it? Write me, I will love talk to you!
jemolinabr@outlook.com
Credits:
Photo Cover: Pexels from Pixabay
Michelle Obama: Daily Mail
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