For the last 6 years, I've reflected on my core values in early January as a part of my annual review and look forward. I typically only review the year prior's materials, to take stock of what I set as goals, as a point of comparison, but this year I went and dug up my annual plan from 2011.
It was sweet and a bit cringe-worthy to see just how ambitious, naive, intense and wide reaching my goals were in my mid-20's. I have to laugh thinking about what future Rebecca will think of my work, goals and plans today...
A few things struck me as noteworthy
- I have a LOT fewer core values. I went from 12+ down to 4.
- My ambitions are much less tactical and more at a vision level that is less attached the means.
- I still agree with 95% of my goals from 2011, but I only prioritize 30% at this point in my life.
- A year is a long time... but it goes by quickly. Same goes for 5 years. And, yes, even a decade.
- Its worth seriously evaluating goals I've been chasing for years without a ton of traction. Its pretty clear that there is a major misalignment. Perhaps I don't really want them. Perhaps they shouldn't be the goal, but the outcome of a different goal. I'm not sure yet.
Overall, the thing that struck me the most is that, even though I don't feel particularly focused... compared with 2011 Rebecca, I'm very focused.
What a good reminder that we struggle with the same things over and over. Just because we're still struggling doesn't mean that there hasn't been progress. Even massive progress.