How will you close out 2021?

Marianne Aerni

I hear many people in my network say 2021 was the fastest year they can remember. With only 51 days left in 2021, I’m inviting you to take a 20 minute reflection and review how 2021 has been like for you, and what you’ll do with the time left to make this year count.

At The Zone, our go to tool for evaluation and review is GUBA. It gives a simple and safe structure to not only track actions but to also how we feel about our actions or inactions - and in doing so remain in integrity with our values and purpose. Here’s what GUBA stands for:

GOOD: What’s going well, I’m on track, and feel good about it.
UGLY: This is the really bad stuff, which not only feels off, but it goes against my values, hurts me/others.
BAD: What I’m not happy with, however no one got hurt and with a bit of work this could turn into a good in the future.
AWESOME: These are the really wonderful things, when I took it to the next level, and felt great.

You decide on your definitions or feel free to borrow ours. Draw an X on a piece of paper and fill in G, U, B, A in each corner:

Set a timer for 15 minutes and mentally journey through the year to date and note what was GOOD, UGLY, BAD and AWESOME. Include all areas of your life e.g. family, relationships, work, community, wellbeing, finances, learning, creativity, impact on the planet, etc.

Take a pause as you look at your GUBA.

Now, we want to turn your insights into action. We’ll use the framework STOP | START | CONTINUE.

GOOD → CONTINUE with a twist
UGLY → STOP, just stop it already
BAD → START doing differently, improve
AWESOME → Definitely CONTINUE!

Now write down on one action you’re going to take, which will make you look back at 2021 and be happy with yourself. As small an action as it might be, it will hopefully bring you closer to the parent, partner, team member, citizen of the world you aspire to be.

You have 51 days left in 2021. Make them count <3