2024: Start Your Legacy
As we embark on the Year of the Dragon in 2024, let's embrace its symbolic strengths of fortune and good luck. This year, heralding a time of renewal and resurgence after the trials of the pandemic, offers us a unique opportunity. It's a chance to emerge stronger, leveraging the resilience, leadership, and innovation embodied by the dragon spirit. This transformative period is our opportunity to soar to new heights, overcoming the obstacles we've faced.
This is also the perfect moment to pause and reflect on what truly matters to us, our loved ones, our organizations, and our communities. I'd like to invite you to a thought-provoking reflection exercise based on the “Wheel of Life.” This exercise allows you to define and act upon your own life dimensions, acknowledging the overlap and influence of work and personal life.
Here are the simple steps to embark on this journey:
Define Your Personal Dimensions: Consider your 6 to 8 life priorities. Think about areas like career, relationships, health, hobbies, and personal growth.
Assess Your Current State: For each dimension you've identified, rate your current satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest. Visualize or jot down these ratings.
Set Your Focus: Choose 1 or 2 dimensions to prioritize for both short-term and long-term benefits. Plan how to enhance these areas and consider ways to track your progress throughout the year. Think about who might support you in this journey.
For example, a leader might realize that while they've focused heavily on their 'legacy', they've neglected 'family and friends'. This realization can lead to a conscious effort to rebalance their time and energy.
Remember, this exercise is a catalyst for self-discovery and intentional living. It's about making choices, sometimes tough ones, to invest in what truly fulfills us. Through these choices, we regain control over our lives, slowly reclaiming what we might have felt we lost in the chaotic post-COVID years.
Consider this exercise a starting point for reflection and conversation. Enjoy the process, and may 2024 be the year that fulfills all your aspirations.
Feeling inspired or have thoughts to share? I’d love to hear from you! Reach out and let’s make 2024 a remarkable year together. Contact: karin.wellbrock@kaygroup-asia.com
Source: Inspired by Paul J. Meyer’s influential 1960 framework for self-improvement and personal development, this adaptation of the Wheel of Life exercise reflects his pioneering approach to holistic growth and life balance.
A Wheel of Life
An example of what the ‘Wheel of Life’ might look like.
Select
Examine the inventory of core values and guiding principles to identify your top 6 to 8 priorities.
Assess
Consider your 6 to 8 life priorities. Think about areas like career, relationships, health, hobbies, and personal growth. Evaluate your current position (on a scale from 1, being the lowest, to 10, being the highest) and set your desired level for each dimension.
Focus
Determine one or two key focus areas in both your professional and personal life, and outline how you plan to advance in these aspects throughout 2024. Review your progress regularly.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karin Wellbrock, Partner and COO at Kay Group K.K., anchors her expertise in a Tokyo-based consultancy specializing in leadership and organizational development. A certified Leadership and Team Coach, Karin is dedicated to propelling both seasoned and emerging executives to leave a significant imprint in their respective industries. She is using innovative yet pragmatic tools and approaches to further the impact of leaders. Beyond individual coaching, Karin extends her influence through her work with NGOs and startups, and through her writing. She delves into the journeys of 'Exceptional Leaders in Japan' and dissects complex leadership scenarios, thereby enriching the managerial toolkit for leaders striving for peak performance. Reach out to Karin to discuss how the Wheel of Life can elevate your leadership journey: karin.wellbrock@kaygroup-asia.com