Start Your Spring Reset

Bone-chilling winds. Grey skies. Stark landscapes. These bleak late-winter days can sap your motivation, making you feel tired, listless, and just plain stuck. While the weather might tempt you to hibernate under the covers with an extra sleeve of Girl Scout cookies, this is actually the perfect time to actively prepare for your Spring Reset.

You’ve seen online influencers with their major lifestyle resets. They tout the benefits of a six-month fitness challenge or a 40-day digital detox. Although those long-term goals might result in a “new year, new you,” let’s consider a simpler, more meditative proposal — a bit of deep-thinking AND a smidgen of writing to prime yourself for a new season of personal adventures and professional opportunities. 

Let’s get started!

Taking Stock

Grab a piece of drawing or plain white copy paper and rotate it into the landscape position. 

In the center of the page, draw a dime-sized circle and four more concentric circles, each approximately 1 inch wide. The resulting shape will resemble a bullseye or dartboard. Moving from the center, label the circles 1-5. 

In the center circle (1) write your name. You are the center of your world!

In the next circle (2) write the names of roles or jobs you have had in your life. Include relationship roles, paid employment, volunteer experiences, and hobbies. 

Examples: parent, dog owner, senior caregiver, manager, youth soccer scorekeeper, swimmer. 

Then, list the names of the important people who interacted with you in those roles in the next circle (3). Select those individuals who shared your enthusiasm or who kept you motivated.

Pivotal Moments

Now, reflect on your experiences in those specific roles. Identify a few achievements that made you smile, text a friend, or earn “kudos” from those around you. Think of these as your Gold Star Moments. Focus less on your job duties. Instead, consider how you made an impact on the work-flow, relationships, or mission of your role. 

Jot down a few phrases in Circle 4 to help you remember those moments. Since space is limited, select phrases that begin with action verbs. 

Examples: Organized 1st town farmers market; Received 2020 Good Food Award; Raised $40K at golf outing.

If you find it challenging to pin-point these key experiences, look through the photos on your phone, review emails and texts you sent to co-workers and friends, or read through past performance reviews and/or meeting minutes.

You might also want to consider the following questions.

• Did you start (or revise) any programs, products or services at your workplace?
• Did you organize any events at work or within your family or community?
• Did you build new relationships with customers, vendors, or neighbors?
• Did you identify and/or solve any particular problems?

In the final circle (5) record the values that led you to your roles or which you demonstrated in those Gold Star Moments. If you need help identifying the values, consider this list by Brené Brown.

Examples: Creativity, Respect for Elders, Independence, Compassion, Environment, Fairness

Reframing the Past

If you had been asked to write your life and career roles in chronological order or on a timeline, you might have noticed that your career trajectory looks like a traditional ladder and more like a winding mountain trail, with switchbacks, ascents, and falls. Don’t despair. According to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 3.9 years in January 2024.” This means most workers today experience many planned (and unplanned) changes. Think of those bumps in the road of your career journey as experiences to be analyzed.

So, take a moment now to look deeper at your roles and experiences and consider these questions:

• Did you ever experience an unplanned role shift or ending? If so, why?
• Did you take on any planned or unplanned caregiving roles that limited your career choices?
• Did you struggle to identify Gold Star moments due to negative memories of a workplace or career shift?

Keep in mind that whether you chose to begin (or end) a role or it was forced upon you, in each one you faced a problem and evaluated your options based on your values. In her book, 10 Little Rules When Good Jobs Go Bad, writer Kate Goggins encourages readers to reframe their lateral moves, their difficult career decisions, and their “boredom and restlessness” as “learning and growth experiences.” You have the power to let go of your anxiety and move forward!

Analyzing Your Circle

Now that you’ve had an opportunity to record your history, it’s time to do some analysis. Set aside a few hours in a quiet space, free from distractions. Think about what you would do if you woke up tomorrow to find that all of your financial needs were covered. (Imagine you won the lottery or received a massive windfall from an investment or an inheritance from a long-lost relative.)

Let your mind move beyond considerable purchases like a new home/car/wardrobe, or brief pursuits like travel.

• How would you like to fill your days?
• What new projects would you like to pursue? 
• What skills would you like to learn? 
• What community calls to you?
• Who would you like to be?

As your mind mulls these questions, look back at your drawing. Do you notice any of these dream roles, people or experiences on your bullseye? If so, circle them. 

Set Your Sights

Turn your paper over and draw another bullseye. Write your name in the center circle (1) again.

Then, think about those daydreams. What values underlie those dream roles and experiences? Write those values in the outermost circle (5).

Working inward, identify some realistic, perhaps short-term, experiences you might pursue that express or model those values. What role would you have in this experience? (Write that in Circle 2.) Who would be working with you? (Write the name of those people or organizations in Circle 3.)

Examples: If you envisioned yourself planning parties in your daydream, you might say that you value “community.” With that goal in mind perhaps you could volunteer to organize some team-building experiences for your employer or you could plan a reunion for your extended family.

If you identified “creativity” or “artistry” as one of your values, perhaps you could volunteer to be a docent at an art gallery or dabble in some drawing classes. (Listen to Karen Walrond share the experiences that led to her book, In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being a Total Amateur on A Certain Age podcast with Katie Fogarty.) 

Moving Forward

The deep-thinking you’ve done here can be quite cathartic! More importantly, it can be used as a springboard (pardon the pun) to set new career or life goals during this next season. 

You can also take this a bit further by using these insights to revise your professional profile statement or cultivate connections with like-minded individuals through social media platforms, like LinkedIn. If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of HOW to capitalize on Gold Star Moments, check out my instructional video series, Crafting a Killer Resume (coming soon).

Feel free to contact me to share what you learned from the Spring Reset Challenge. I promise to provide updates on my Spring Reset too!