Building in Reflection As the Pace of the World Accelerates

For the past 18 years I have been leading my personal life with the Agility3R behavior model based on resilience, responsiveness and reflection.

I built this behavioral model in 2005 after reading Thomas Friedmans’ The World is Flat. This model has served me well, supported my ability to navigate complexity with an inner sense of what really matters and deepened my respect for intuition. I invite you to choose three words for 2024 that will serve as guideposts and anchors in how you filter your experience in the world.

Using the Agility3R model, here are the journal prompts I am using to mark the opening of a new year:

Resilience

Anticipating Future Challenges: Visualize a potential future challenge you might face. How would you prepare for it? What strategies can you develop now to strengthen your resilience for such scenarios?

Setting Goals for Personal Growth: Identify areas in your life where you wish to become more resilient. Set specific, achievable goals for yourself. How will you work towards these goals, and what measures will you use to track your progress?

Cultivating a Resilient Mindset: Think about the mindset needed to overcome adversity. What daily practices or affirmations can you adopt to cultivate a stronger, more resilient mindset?

Responsiveness

Planning for Change: Consider the changes you expect to encounter in the next year. How can you proactively prepare for them? Outline a plan that includes steps for adapting to these changes.

Improving Reaction Times: Reflect on how you typically react to unexpected situations. What can you do to improve your responsiveness? Consider strategies like scenario planning or stress management techniques.

Enhancing Proactive Behaviors: Identify opportunities where being more proactive could be beneficial. Create an action plan for how you will anticipate and prepare for these opportunities.

Reflection

Envisioning Future Success: Imagine a future where you have achieved significant personal or professional growth. What does this look like? How did you get there, and what were the key lessons learned along the way?

Developing Continuous Learning Habits: Consider how you can incorporate continuous learning and reflection into your daily routine. What practices will you adopt to ensure you are consistently growing and evolving?

Reflecting for Future Decision-Making: Think about an important decision you’ll likely have to make in the future. How will you approach this decision? What reflection techniques will you use to ensure a well-thought-out choice?

There is actually another R — and that is Reading. You can follow all of my book recommendations as I code them with #ReadToLead.

I want to shoutout Ross Dawson’s Thriving on Overload as we had a great conversation about creating filters and being able to create good habits to protect your attention.

I also highly recommend Céline Schillingers Dare to Unlead — a treasure trove of great framing questions. I so enjoyed a conversation our conversation earlier this year and know you will too.

If you want to know what to practice for the Future of Work, here are the mental muscles I advise we practice and strengthen:

Happy New Year!

Love, Light & Learning,

Jennifer #a3r