The Red Velvet Lawyer

Tracking Gains, Setting Weekly Goals, and Holding Yourself Accountable Yesterday, I described my productive use of three snow days and the " satisfaction of completion ."  Today, I want to describe a tool my business coach, Christine Kane , advised me to use in her UpLevel Your Life on-line coaching program. She calls the tool the "Sunday Summit" because she encourages you to use it once a week to plan your intention for the week.  I have used it every week for three years. The 2-page tool consists of eight questions.  The questions on page one help you focus on gains made the last week and create accountability for missed goals.  The questions are: 1.  What have I accomplished this week? 2.  Is there anything I wanted to accomplish but did not? 3.  What a-ha's or awakenings have I had this week? 4.  What challenges am I experiencing? 5.  If I were coaching myself, what would I tell myself about those challenges? The second page shifts

Using the Sunday Summit to Close the Loops In three prior posts, I talked about my goal setting process for 2020.  See here , here , and here . This year, I did something I have not done before.  I reviewed the weekly Sunday Summits I prepared during the year to see if I had listed any projects that remained undone.  Thankfully, the list included about a dozen items, many of which I had captured on my to-do list for the winter break between semesters.  I'll close those loops, as David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity , advises people to do.  I strongly recommend the use of the Sunday Summit -- created by entrepreneurial coach Christine Kane .  I wrote about it here as a weekly planning tool.

Designing Your Future My business coach, Christine Kane , recommended the book : A Happy Pocketful of Money: Infinite Wealth and Abundance in the Here and Now . The book suggests developing a list of 5,000 goals. In private law practice, I annually set goals and then reviewed them at year end.  For each goal that I put at the top of my priority list, I identified what I needed to do by the end of the next -- six months, three months, and one month -- to meet it by year end.  I then set smaller steps to that goal each day and week. With very few exceptions, I met my prioritized goals and also many that were lower on the list. Just by listing the goals, you bring them into awareness.  Then: "Energy flows where attention goes." For over two years, I have been using a tool Christine Kane calls the "Sunday Summit."  It functions as a weekly reflection and planning tool.  On the first page, I answer the following reflective questions -- every Sunday: Wha

  Two Aspirational Words for 2024 Almost every year, for a decade, I've chosen a word for the year representing my overall aspiration.  I did miss a couple of years, including 2021 and 2022.  I think my transition to retirement interrupted my usual year-end planning process. But, I'm ready to declare my aspirational word for 2024.  Actually, I've picked two words.  Christine Kane, the entrepreneurial coach I used for three years, suggested the use of one word.  Her selection tool is no longer available, it seems.  But, she discusses the concept here .  Chris Brogan chooses three words for each year.  Here are his selections for 2023.  He uses them to positively guide his actions in the coming year.  Should he commit to this project?  Does it align with his three words?  The words should inspire action.   He lists seven rules for picking the words.  And, he encourages you to review them daily. I am picking two words this year: "leadership" and "gather."

Ongoing Efforts to Curb the Coronavirus: Fear, Frustration, Fatigue, & Family Infections May Recap: The month of May saw public health concerns collide with cultural norms associated with Ramadan and the Eid-al-Fitr holiday.  Ramadan began on April 23 with the Eid holiday in Qatar beginning on May 24 and ending on May 30. Government officials warned people to continue to stay-at-home during this season and avoid any inter-family meals, visits, or celebrations.  It continued to ban congregational prayer at mosques.  While it relaxed the rules on take-a-way meals from restaurants, it continued precautionary measures.  As Eid approached, officials imposed further pre-cautionary measures to curb the spread of the virus.  They required people to wear masks when they left their homes, to install a contact notification app called EHTERAZ to help people learn when they had had close contact with an infected person, and limit the number of persons in vehicles.  They continue