What’s your personal 2012 annual report?

Dr. Seuss said it: “Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.” I’ll admit, as a lifelong “achiever”, I’ve been frustrated by my progress in a new environment over the past few months. My boss is happy but I have yet to feel at home or to hit one out of the park. So I gave myself the gift of an objective review of 2012. Turns out, there’s no slump… I’m just a bit impatient!

My review was inspired by a John Maxwell post where he explains that at the end of every year, he goes through every detail in his calendar and evaluates which meetings, projects, initiatives and learning opportunities were worthwhile and which were not. He examines what could be delegated and where he would like to dedicate more time. He looks at highlights of his time with his family and reminisces with his wife. Essentially, he conducts a year in review to gain perspective and to set new objectives.

Here are some of my professional 2012 highlights:

That’s me with President Alastair Summerlee and Peter Senge on the left.

1. Convocation for earning my M.A. Leadership.
2. Converted my Master’s research into the Twelve Weeks to Trust blog series
3. Organized a symposium for my classmates to present our MA research
4. Was nominated by my classmates to deliver remarks at the University of Guelph’s Lincoln Alexander Leadership Awards dinner
5. Researched Generation Flux: Understanding the seismic shifts shaking Canada’s youth for Community Foundations of Canada which sparked national dialogue
6. Chaired Random Act of Kindness Day in my community which involved tens of thousands of people in hundreds of workplaces, schools and organizations. That’s hundreds of thousands of kind acts in one day!
7. Made the shift from six years of consulting to a new job in a new sector with a new team

Just as important, personal highlights included:

1. Spending great quality time with my family
2. Chairing School Council and a sub-committee for the Guelph Community Foundation
3. Taking up Master’s Swimming and running my first Tri-a-tri in ten years!

Why the list? It seems a little self-indulgent, doesn’t it? But why do we wait for others to evaluate us? Why not conduct our own performance review? In his seminal article Managing Oneself in the Harvard Business Review, Peter Drucker reminds us to assess our strengths, our performance and our values in order to put ourselves in situations where we can excel.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
~ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss