a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

Are you living life in the fast lane – but seem to get nowhere? Are you working at the speed of light - dashing from deadline to meeting and back again? Or has your progress stalled and you realise you’re actually stuck in the slow lane?

Whatever your situation, if you aren’t regularly investing the time to review and evaluate your own performance you are missing out on a huge raft of benefits. Reviewing is the single most positive action you can take – because regular reviewing will lead to a cascade of positive insights and better ways of doing things.

What is reviewing?

At its most basic it is about giving ourselves time to learn the lessons that life has just given us. Think of life as big classroom. Every day we are given wonderful learning opportunities – things that went wrong, things that went brilliantly, things that were okay but could have gone better.

And yet because we lead such busy lives, or because we simply never think of doing so, the lessons go unlearned and we keep spinning along without a thought to how we can surpass our wildest expectations.

One big challenge to regular reviewing is the fact that no-one makes us do it. So it’s easily squeezed out if there are other seemingly more urgent things in your diary – you don’t have the time and it will just have to wait…and wait... But are you seriously saying that you don’t have the time for the most powerful element in gaining success? That’s crazy talk!

So the first step is to make a positive mental decision that reviewing is essential to your future success and wellbeing. That means you will need to make time in your busy schedule to sit and think (no arguments here – you can find the time). The best way is to make an appointment with yourself and treat it as if it was an important appointment with someone else. It helps if you think of an empowering label to write in your diary – ‘development’ or ‘strategic thinking’, for instance.

However, if you simply can’t find the time or mental space to do this, then make an appointment with someone else who can help you. Get yourself a coach and schedule your sessions weekly. Many of my clients have done just that and have quickly amazed themselves at the differences they’ve achieved.

How to do a review session

Okay – so you’ve found a slot in your diary, you’ve minimised the chance of disturbance and you are ready to go. But then you realise that there’s been so much happening that you don’t know where to start. The answer is to always have a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

ourselves time to learn the lessons that life has just given us. Think of life as big classroom. Every day we are given wonderful learning opportunities – things that went wrong, things that went brilliantly, things that were okay but could have gone better.

And yet because we lead such busy lives, or because we simply never think of doing so, the lessons go unlearned and we keep spinning along without a thought to how we can surpass our wildest expectations.

One big challenge to regular reviewing is the fact that no-one makes us do it. So it’s easily squeezed out if there are other seemingly more urgent things in your diary – you don’t have the time and it will just have to wait…and wait... But are you seriously saying that you don’t have the time for the most powerful element in gaining success? That’s crazy talk!

So the first step is to make a positive mental decision that reviewing is essential to your future success and wellbeing. That means you will need to make time in your busy schedule to sit and think (no arguments here – you can find the time). The best way is to make an appointment with yourself and treat it as if it was an important appointment with someone else. It helps if you think of an empowering label to write in your diary – ‘development’ or ‘strategic thinking’, for instance.

However, if you simply can’t find the time or mental space to do this, then make an appointment with someone else who can help you. Get yourself a coach and schedule your sessions weekly. Many of my clients have done just that and have quickly amazed themselves at the differences they’ve achieved.

How to do a review session

Okay – so you’ve found a slot in your diary, you’ve minimised the chance of disturbance and you are ready to go. But then you realise that there’s been so much happening that you don’t know where to start. The answer is to always have a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

on’t have the time and it will just have to wait…and wait... But are you seriously saying that you don’t have the time for the most powerful element in gaining success? That’s crazy talk!

So the first step is to make a positive mental decision that reviewing is essential to your future success and wellbeing. That means you will need to make time in your busy schedule to sit and think (no arguments here – you can find the time). The best way is to make an appointment with yourself and treat it as if it was an important appointment with someone else. It helps if you think of an empowering label to write in your diary – ‘development’ or ‘strategic thinking’, for instance.

However, if you simply can’t find the time or mental space to do this, then make an appointment with someone else who can help you. Get yourself a coach and schedule your sessions weekly. Many of my clients have done just that and have quickly amazed themselves at the differences they’ve achieved.

How to do a review session

Okay – so you’ve found a slot in your diary, you’ve minimised the chance of disturbance and you are ready to go. But then you realise that there’s been so much happening that you don’t know where to start. The answer is to always have a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

y – ‘development’ or ‘strategic thinking’, for instance.

However, if you simply can’t find the time or mental space to do this, then make an appointment with someone else who can help you. Get yourself a coach and schedule your sessions weekly. Many of my clients have done just that and have quickly amazed themselves at the differences they’ve achieved.

How to do a review session

Okay – so you’ve found a slot in your diary, you’ve minimised the chance of disturbance and you are ready to go. But then you realise that there’s been so much happening that you don’t know where to start. The answer is to always have a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

a clear focus for each session. It’s much better to think about one thing well than lots of things badly.

Here is a list of some of the things to think about. You should add more.

• Goals – are they clear? Are they still valid? Do I have any?
• How did I progress my goals this week?
• What am I enjoying/not enjoying?
• What went right this week?
• What went wrong?
• What mistakes have I made?
• How have I got on with my staff/clients/manager/colleagues?
• Where was I negative?
• What’s annoyed or stressed me this week?

Always remember the reason for the review: to learn the lessons that have been presented to you, so you can do things even better in the future. It’s well worth writing down the learning points and visualising yourself putting them into action. In fact the last question to ask yourself should almost always be: what am I going to do about it?

So, do you want to rocket yourself to new levels of achievement and success? Then make an appointment for your first review now.