Roads Not Taken

The end of the year is almost upon us. This is typically a time when we look back and take stock of the year’s accomplishments—or what we missed along the way. It's an occasion associated not just with personal reflection, but professional inspection, as depicted here by Indeed. While it might be commonplace to treat end-of-year reviews as one-directional, they should be a process through which mutual feedback is shared, as seen in the parody series Corporate.

Through the workplace turbulence of the past couple years, we all experienced significant changes in the way we work individually and collectively. How did our teams weather all these storms? How did we? Permeating this past year was an urgency for normalcy. All of us are determined to reach new, different places than what came before.

Yet, this driven mentality, when coupled with reflection and review, can sometimes invite the bitter bite of regret, forcing us to consider goals not yet seized. To alleviate that ache, researcher Alice Boyes, PhD, illustrates how to glimpse not the roads unexplored, but the paths conquered.

Along the same vein, Progress Specialist Mehrnaz Bassiri emphasizes the importance of appreciating our victories—large and small--in this TED Talk. It is crucial that we lend appreciation not just to our accomplishments, but to the struggle behind these accomplishments. Dare to go a step further and discuss the challenges of those around us, the stories behind their conquered roads. Through this experience we can better shift our vision from problems to solutions—from struggle to strategy.

Turning the typical end-of-year review from a requirement to an exchange of challenges and victories is how we lay the brickwork for the roads ahead. Thus do we gather the insight necessary to leave the year not lamenting the setting sun, but with eagerness for new horizons.

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien