Tag Archives: Growth

Annual Review 2023

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In the Lean world we carry out an Annual Hansei which is Japanese for annual self reflection.

Annual self reflection allows us to reflect on what has worked well in the past year so we can celebrate & build on the successes.

It also allows us to reflect on what didn’t work well in the past year so we can adjust & change direction.  

I will be happy to see the end of 2023.

2023 has by far been the hardest and most challenging year of my life.

My beloved and adored Dad was really ill in early 2023 and passed away on 6th August. Because of this immense loss, no challenging time before 2023 even came close to the heartache and sadness of 2023.​

I reached very few goals in 2023 which was similar to 2021 & 2022. This has made me realise that no matter how much we plan, the path that is meant for us will always be the path we travel.

This path is not necessarily what we plan for!

Whatever 2023 brought you, I hope you find time to reflect on your year, leave behind what doesn’t serve you and bring into 2024 everything that supports & nurtures you. 

I use the Wheel of Life below to categorise my life. The categories of my life are Sense of Self, Relationships, Health, Work, Finance, Recreation, Environment & Contribution.

When reflecting on your year, you can use these categories or create some of your own.

Here is my Annual Review for 2023.

1. Relationships:

My beloved Dad passed away on August 6th 2023. That day was the worst day of my life and every day since has been a real challenge. I miss Dad every minute of every day.

Dad was a great man, a great Dad, everything about him was just great. 

I got to spend a huge amount of time with my Dad in his last months and I was by his side during his illness. It’s hard to express just how grateful and blessed I am for this precious time, as well as the previous 49 years we had together. 

My awareness of how precious time is was heightened this year as I was reminded that our time is not finite, we don’t have a never ending supply of time.

One day our time with those we love runs out! One day our own time runs out!

Everything else in 2023 paled into insignificance for me. My priority was my Dad and now my priority is learning to live with his physical absence. 

The loss of a loved one changes everything.

I’m different, my world is different, my perspective on the world is different.

Everything is different.

 

2. Sense of Self: 

In 2023 I added ‘Sense of Self’ to the categories of my life.

In 2023 personal development which I had been doing for decades was no longer working for me. Personal strategy which I had been doing for over a decade was no longer working for me.

I knew I needed something more meaningful and impactful.

Sense of Self combines my story, spirituality, personal development, personal strategy and my relationship with myself.

This category is all about who I am, who I want to be, who I need to be to achieve my dreams and how I feel about myself and the world around me.

Here is where I also work on the concepts of self love, self worth, self esteem, self belief, self trust, self confidence, self assurance, self understanding, self respect, self awareness and self observation.

2023 was a very challenging year for me and I feel my Sense of Self was on shaky ground. This shaky ground probably started a few years ago but 2023 made it even more unstable. 

In saying that, the challenges of 2023 brought me immense personal growth & learnings. These learnings and personal growth have been very difficult and painful – the saying ‘no pain no gain’ comes to mind! 

 

3. Health: 

There is no truer saying than health is wealth, the quality of every area of our lives is totally dependant on our health.

I have always been aware of the importance of physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health and over the past few years, for many reasons, this awareness has been brought to a deeper level. 

In 2022 & 2023 I watched loved ones deal with ill health which was really challenging and reinforced the importance of dedicating time & energy to learning about and improving our physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health. 

2023 was challenging for me in all areas of my health and I didn’t reach any of the goals I set for myself. I actually went backwards in terms of most of my health goals. 

In March, I injured my back skiing and that injury stayed with me all year albeit improving bit by bit throughout the year.

The loss of my Dad greatly impacted my health. I don’t fully comprehend how but I am working to understand this. 

Improving our physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health is a journey and just like any other journey, it’s important to keep learning & moving forward no matter the pace!!

 

4. Work:

I currently spend the least time in this category which is ironic as for 25 years it was where I spent the most time! 

Work has changed dramatically for me over the past few years. I left my day job in October 2021 and wanted to set up own business but life had other plans for me! 

I took time off and am still on time off! 

This time off work has been life changing.

No job, salary or money can compete with how precious this time has been. 

Having this time off work in 2023 meant I had a huge amount of time with my Dad during the last stage of his life – that time was the most precious gift of my entire life. 

One of my writing goals for 2023 was to improve my writing.

At the beginning of 2023 I had become unhappy and disillusioned with my writing and had written many blog posts & emails that will never see the light of day. They are my writing and my words but they did not align with who I am and with the type of writing I want to do.

My writing did not adequately reflect how my life has changed in the past few years and how I have evolved as a person.

  • I wanted my writing to be richer, deeper, more meaningful, and more impactful for me and for you, the reader
  • Also I wanted to write more from a place of transparency & openness to see where it takes me

My writing is definitely on it’s way to being richer, deeper, more meaningful, more transparent and more open but it is a journey, possibly one that will last as long as I continue to write. 

Another one of my writing goals for 2023 was to write more. 

I am for the first time in my life, writing more than I am sharing. This is a huge milestone for me and means because as I write more, I can write better!

This has been a dream of mine for a very long time.

In terms of work I  still want to set up my own business, I’m just not ready yet.  

At some stage I will need to think about how to balance my precious time off with the writing I want to do but for the moment I’m just going to continue to enjoy the balance I currently have.  

 

5. Finance: 

The more I learn about personal finance the more I wish personal finance was a subject I learned in school, it certainly would have saved me much trial and error. Just like health – finance is a journey of which learning & understanding are constant companions. 

In 2023 I changed much of my financial landscape. I wanted to simplify & streamline my finances to make them work better for me. 

Renovating and selling an investment property in 2023 will allow me to make more diverse financial decisions in 2024.

I completed a number of smaller financial projects which were all aimed at streamlining my finances and moving step by step towards financial freedom. 

My top 3 financial learnings of 2022 stand firm for 2023 also,

  • One of the most important elements of finance is mindset – one person can receive €100 and feel rich and another could receive €1,000,000 and feel it’s not enough. The difference has nothing to do with numbers, it’s money mindset. 

There are 2 types of money mindset – abundance and scarcity – both will dictate your relationship with money and how freely it flows in and out of your life and also how much you enjoy earning and spending money. 

  1. Abundance is not just about money – when I left my day job in October 2021 my income  dramatically reduced but I felt more abundant in so many other areas of my life. Abundance is also about love, time, health, freedom and everything else that money cannot buy. 

The abundance of love, time, health & freedom brings me more joy than any amount of money ever could! 

  1. Time is more valuable than money – this is not a learning but a teaching from Jim Rohn. Jim’s quote about time and money is one of my all time favourites. 

‘Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time’.

Every day I am learning the true essence of this quote. Now that I no longer trade my time for money, I see the true value of time which is priceless – absolutely priceless. 

 

6. Recreation:

This category could be combined with relationships as it is with those I love that I have the most fun times. No-one makes me laugh out loud more than those I love and those who love me – these people are food for my soul! 

I spent much time in 2023 with my Dad who always made me laugh. My Dad had a brilliant sense of humour which my brother’s and I each inherited some of.

My Dad and I and always laughed and joked when in each other’s company. Even through his illness and last days, he was smiling and joking and reminding us how important it is to laugh and keep things light! 

Mike and I also share the same sense of humour and so our home is always filled with much laughter of which I am immensely grateful for. 

I didn’t have much of a social life in 2023 which suited where my life was in 2023. Maybe I’ll be a little more social in 2024 – who knows! 

 

7. Environment:

For me, environment is about our planet on a global scale and our beautiful home on a personal level.

In 2022 I started decluttering our home using the techniques in Marie Kondo’s brilliant book ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’. I continued with this in 2023 however implementing these techniques took way longer than I had thought and so it will continue well into 2024. 

I’m a minimalist in that I don’t have or need much stuff but I only realised how much stuff I actually have when I started to declutter it! 

 

8. Contribution: 

I continue to give to charities, albeit not at the level I would have when I was working.

In 2023 I became more aware of the contribution I make to the world in terms of my time & skills and the contributions I make which aren’t monetary. We all contribute to the world in so many ways that we don’t even notice, this has been an unexpected education for me!  

That’s it, my 2023 in review.

I am happy to say goodbye to 2023, it was a year of immense pain, heartache and loss.

Thank you for reading my blog posts and your kind words during 2023, I really appreciate your support. 

I hope whatever 2023 brought you that you can build on & learn from it. May 2024 bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace & prosperity. 

Thanks for reading, 

Siobhain 

x x x

If you want to carry out your own Annual Review, below is a list of blog posts to support you. 

5 Reasons To Prioritise Your Annual Review​​

3 Steps To Your Annual Review​  

This is the 11th year I have shared my Annual Review here on my blog, my previous Annual Reviews can be found here,

2013   2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  2021  2022

 

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5 Simple Steps To The CV Test

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Most people work to earn money and the lucky few work to learn as they don’t need to work for money.

Whether we work for money or not, almost everyone wants to LEARN WHILE THEY EARN. 

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE is one of the core principles of a Lean Culture. 

You cannot grow and evolve your business without growth and evolution of your people. 

Continuous learning is critical to business and people growth and a Lean Culture is built on a solid foundation of this constant & consistent learning & growth. 

 

The 8th Lean Waste is underutilising your employee’s unlimited talent & potential. This Lean Waste results in not acknowledging, realising and working to develop each and every employee’s unlimited talent and potential.

This Lean Waste not only costs your business time and money but it disengages your employees, There is no waste that disengages employees more than the 8th Lean Waste. 

 

If you are one of these employees, then you will feel like you are EARNING BUT NOT LEARNING. 

You will feel like you are not moving forward in your role, that your learning curve has flatlined, that your work has become meaningless and that you are just working for money. 

For some people this is fine, for most it is not and lack of growth/learning is probably one of the reasons behind the great resignation that the world is currently experiencing. 

So how do you know if you are LEARNING WHILE EARNING?

How do you know if you are GROWING & EVOLVING in your life/work/business?

You take the CV test!

Here’s 5 simple steps to the CV test,

 

Step 1:

Update your CV and include a category called ‘Learnings’. This version of your CV is for your eyes only and is just used to track your learnings throughout the year.

If you have been in a role for a long time and are not thinking of moving, chances are you may not have an up to date CV.

If you own your business and have done for many years, chances are you may not even have a CV. 

Whatever relationship you have with your CV, it’s time to dust it off & update it. 

 

Step 2: 

Focus on and document your learnings EVERY DAY. 

This ensures you are thinking about your learning EVERY DAY. 

This ensures that you are tracking your learning EVERY DAY.

It also ensures you are focused on and mindful of your learning EVERY DAY. 

If you are serious about learning in your work/business then learning and evaluation of learning needs to be a DAILY HABIT. 

NOTE:

It’s important that this is actually new skills or a learning about yourself, others, the world around you.

This is NOT more work. 

For example if you learned how to do something new and you used skills you already have and your skill level didn’t improve, then that’s not learning more, that’s just doing more. 

Taking on more work doesn’t necessarily mean you are learning more and becoming more skilled. 

This ‘Learnings’ category is for LEARNING MORE not DOING MORE

 

Step 3: 

Update the new ‘Learnings’ category in your CV every month with what you learn.

Review these ‘Learnings’ every month.

Is your learning aligned with your Vision for your life/work/business? 

Are you learning enough to get to where you want to go personally/professionally?

Is your learning curve too steep highlighting you have taken on too much learning?

Has your learning curve flatlined highlighting you are not learning at all?

 

Step 4: 

Create a learning plan for the next month. 

What do you want to learn? 

What do you need to learn to move you closer to your Vision for your life/work/business? 

 How will you find time in your busy day for these learnings?

 

Step 5:

Repeat 1-4 above! 

Wishing you LEARNING & EARNING for 2022 and beyond!

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain x x

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The Imaginary Ceiling

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Photo Credit: Marco Meyer – Unsplash

There are two types of ceilings – physical ceilings and imaginary ceilings.

Physical ceilings are made from solid materials – concrete, wood, glass, some are plain and known to few, some are world famous works of art.

Imaginary ceilings are ceilings imposed upon others by people’s perspective in relation to what they think others are capable of.

We have all heard it being said – ‘such and such has a ceiling’, ‘oh I think they have reached their ceiling’, ‘they won’t go past their ceiling’.

Guess what –  these are imaginary ceilings conjured up by those who actually think people’s capabilities are finite.

People’s capabilities are not finite – people (all people) have infinite capabilities.

The environment in which people/live work can tell us a lot about reaching those capabilities.

If the environment in which we live/work believes people have ‘ceilings’ then that is how they will be treated.

If the environment in which we live/work believes people have infinite capabilities, then that is how they will be treated.

Are there imaginary ceilings in your life/work?

‘If a flower doesn’t bloom, you change the environment not the flower’

Alexander Den Heijer

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x x

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Meeting Art and Understanding Lean

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Oprah calls it an ‘Aha’ moment – the moment when something falls into place, when the penny drops, when a lightbulb goes off in your brain and you understand something with an immense clarity that you previously didn’t have.

I experienced this ‘Aha’ moment over 6 years ago when Art Byrne delivered his keynote speech at the 2013 Lean Enterprise Academy Summit. As well as a great guy, Art is a powerhouse of Lean knowledge having lived Lean with it’s highs and lows for many decades. I have read Art’s wonderful book ‘The Lean Turnaround’ many times and knew I was in for something special as Art took to the stage.

My ‘Aha’ moment came in as short a time as 4 minutes into Art’s talk. I had always known that Lean enabled a better, more efficient, more inclusive way of working however after listening to and understanding Art’s simple explanation of Lean, the power of this methodology was finally clear to me. Key elements from these short 4 minutes of Art’s talk that helped me understand the power of Lean are as follows

  • Lean is not a bunch of tools
  • Lean is not a collection of projects or belts (Art in his fabulous honesty makes it clear that in running a business you are not running a karate class!!!)
  • Lean is ‘the biggest strategic business weapon you can ever have’  – a business being ‘a collection of people and processes trying to deliver value to a set of customers and always the best team wins’.
  • Lean is a growth strategy not a cost cutting strategy.

Art continued by explaining the key elements required to be successful at Lean which are having Lean and Operational Excellence are your core strategy, that Lean is led from the top and that people are transformed. Without these elements, Art explains very honestly,  failure will be the outcome!

As Art spoke about transforming people, he explained that people are the only asset you have that appreciates and you want them to keep appreciating, that you also need to respect your people because the best improvement ideas come from the people doing the work. To do this you need to create a learning environment where people are learning every day and are excited to come to work. This then becomes your culture, the way things are done around here – this is Lean.

Art summed up all of the above by simply saying –  Lean is a people thing!

[tweetthis]’Lean is a people thing’ Art Byrne[/tweetthis]

I met Art at one of the break out sessions. He was gracious, humble and generous with his time. I spoke with him around challenges I was having in implementing Lean in my role as I  did not have the influence of a CEO for Lean to ‘come from the top’. He smiled and gave me some of the best advice I have ever received. He said ‘be the CEO in your area’, excellent advice for anyone trying to make things better when it’s not coming from the top!

Art signed my copy of his book ‘The Lean Turnaround’ by using a popular phrase synonymous with Guinness – it was Art’s way of saying how much he loved Ireland and how much he respects Kaizen. And yes, I totally agree with him, Kaizen is good for you!!!!

I left the 2103 Lean Enterprise Academy Summit energetic, enthused and looking forward to the next steps on my Lean journey.

Over 6 years later my Lean journey continues to experience highs and lows, I’m happy to say more highs than lows these days and always, always learning lessons which is at the core of what Lean is about – continuous learning!

Thanks for reading,

Keeping it Simple,

Siobhain

x x x

 

 

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