I don’t know if you are like me, but often, I find I am at a loss to recall the key lessons learned from past years. Think about it. What were the greatest lessons you learned in business or in life in 2005? What about 2003?
Okay, lets make this a bit easier. What did you learn in 2009?
One tactic that I have found useful is to label my years. I do this while spending a day during the Christmas break or right after the new year reflecting and planning. I review my Life Plan, Business Vision and Business Plan. I spend time journaling through the past year, and work to identify any big lessons learned. Then, once this is done, I use all this information to give both the past and upcoming year a label.
Here is what I mean by a label: I identify what my biggest focus points or new insights were during the year. They are not usually all that profound.
For those of you who know me, you know I like to play! My favorite hobbies have always included some kind of a board under my feet. Surfing is my greatest passion, but I also enjoy snowboarding and carve and long boarding through the streets of Lake Oswego. I get all kinds of funny looks and terse comments from neighbors, who must think I am some kind of teenage troublemaker as I skate by with my kids and their friends.
After an hour and a half, he left, and one of my sons came by. He is 17, and is finishing up his senior year with some classes at our local community college. The purpose of our one on one time was to connect and take a look at his plan for the next quarter. It was an opportunity for me to listen to him and to connect at a deeper level. I was able to pour into him.
As many of you know, I have spent the last 13 years of my career building an 
