What do you want to stop, start and continue this month?
Are you running on autopilot each month without pausing for some reflection? Doing so might lead to unfinished projects, demotivation, and eventually, even burnout.
In this blog post, I will tell you why reflection is a must-do before each month and walk you through the steps I take on with my clients to make sure they are set to conquer the next 30 days.
The beginning and end of each month are always great for reflection. Think of it as an appointment you have with yourself to just pause and reflect. Most people forget to do this every month, but when you think of it as an appointment, you are more likely to honour it since you don't find yourself bailing out on your meetings with other people, right?
My clients go through a monthly reflection process called "Stop, Start, Continue." It's a three-step process I walk them through to think across three different levels that will allow them to:
Stop for reflection
Start thinking about new monthly goals
Contemplate the things working for them that they would like to bring to the new month.
Let's go through each step (bring out a journal because you will need to take some notes)!
Stop
When you're living in alignment and walking with the right values for you, it doesn't matter what environment you find yourself in because you'll be operating with clarity and not getting swept up by everyone else's decisions, mannerisms, and behavioral kind of ways that might trigger you.
Most people start with the second step in this process, but your goals might not come to fruition if you skip ahead. Thinking about the things, habits, or behaviours you need to remove from your life is necessary to give you the renewed mindset to go into the new month.
It is so easy to say yes to new habits, behaviours and new things you want to try. But when you think about developmental psychology, you need to be aware that there are some innate behaviours that you need to delve deeper into to figure out why you consistently work in ways that aren't beneficial to you. Hence, you need to look at areas you want to stop and areas you want to start leaning into.
In this step, reflect on the following questions:
What are the habits that are hampering my progression?
What kind of behaviour do I need to stop doing to reach my next level of progress?
What mental blocks do I need to work on to make way for a renewed mindset?
Start
This is the most exciting part of this three-step process! You will be thinking about the things, projects, or goals you want to achieve for the new month.
Before you start writing them down, make sure you answer these questions first:
Brainstorm projects or goals you want to accomplish this month.
How will I make sure that these behaviours and goals are something that I am excited to do, and want to continue doing? (Take root in your biggest whys.)
What new healthy habits can I practice to make sure I'm physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually prepared to carry out my goals? (Is it by journaling, taking a walk, enrolling in a course, getting a gym membership, etc.?)
Continue
Sometimes, you don't even need to start new goals, habits, or behaviours. You just need to continue doing the things working for you and the practices that are driving you forward towards progress.
Check-in with yourself with these questions:
What are the things/habits/behaviours that didn't work for me last month?
What are the things/habits/behaviours that worked for me last month and that I would like to bring with me next month?
Capitalise on the things that are already working for you. If something is not broken, you don't need to fix it. If you are a manager or someone who leads a team, you can even do the "Stop, Start, Continue" exercise with them to make sure you're on track with your progress. Besides, it's a great way to strengthen the culture within your team.
In this month's masterclass, The Signature Rituals and Routines for Success, you will learn
further practices to help you build better success habits.