Every year at Foundation, we do end-of-year employee evaluations.
These meetings always highlight what an employee did well throughout the year, point out an area or two they can work on, give them the floor for feedback for management and the company, and then go over their career and life goals to make sure we are all pulling in the same direction.
These meetings provide a lot of clarity for us and them. Sometimes we discover that we have people in completely wrong roles or that over the year their passions have changed and the direction we have their career going needs to change with them. Other times we find out that an employee we thought was about to leave is ready to dig in and is in it for the long haul.
What it actually makes you do though is stop. Stop what you are doing, think through things apart from emotion and relationships, and dig into what is happening at the company. The realizations that happen during these and the feedback that I receive from employees are invaluable.
This year as I was prepping for the employee evaluations, I decided to do something different. I decided to give myself an end-of-year evaluation.
I want to encourage you to do the same.
During the chaos of the Christmas and New Year seasons, take some time to sit down with a notebook and ask yourself some important questions to really gain perspective on your life.
Are you on track to become the man or woman that you want to be? If not, what is holding you back? Do you even have a clear picture of what that person looks like?
How about your relationships? Are you giving them the attention they deserve? Are there some that you are giving too much attention and weight to?
Are your day-to-day habits and actions leading you towards or away from your life goals?
Are you fulfilled in your career?
When answering all of these and whatever other questions they lead to, remember that it is a self-evaluation and not an outside circumstance evaluation. Be intentional to take ownership of what you can control and change and don’t use what you can’t as excuses for not doing what you can.
The new year is always a time of resolutions and goals. Instead of making generic ones, get deep with yourself. Take time to really get to know yourself and pay close attention to what your daily thoughts and actions say about the person you are. Do more of what makes you proud in those discoveries and find ways to cut out what you’re not proud of.