2 min read Weekly Hello!

Weekly Hello! #19 — Intention vs Intellect

Weekly Hello! #19 — Intention vs Intellect
The print version of the YearCompass — also available in digital.

I have a semi-regular yearly review which has me deep dive into my goals, reviewing what I attained and what still needs work. Although helpful, it’s always felt to be missing something. In retrospect, I can surmise it to be this question, “what am I optimising for?”

I know I want to lead a life of intention, a life that is highly aligned with my whole self. Is this reflected in my goals? Not entirely. My reviews tend to include all spheres of my life, but there are obvious favourites; career and “self” improvement, with my emotional, relational and pay psychological goals relegated to the sidelines. My goals were intellectual, not intentional.

YearCompass to the rescue! I'll allow them to explain what it is:

💡
YearCompass is a free booklet that helps you reflect on the year and plan the next one. With a set of carefully selected questions and exercises, YearCompass helps you uncover your own patterns and design the ideal year for yourself.

Learn from your mistakes, celebrate your victories, and set out a path you want to walk on. All you need is a quiet few hours and our booklet.

New Year's resolutions don't work. YearCompass does — for more than a million people around the world since 2012.

Join us and design your ideal self!

"Join us and design your ideal self" is a hefty claim, and man do they deliver. The booklet is split into 2 parts, the review, where many penetrating questions are asked which have you consider your whole your from many angles, followed by a planning part which is just as in-depth.

At only 20 pages, it took me 3 hours over a period of a week to complete. Some questions were so heavy I had to take a moment before beginning the next. Here's a sample of the review prompts.

Six sentences about my past year:

  • The wisest decision I made...
  • The biggest lesson I learned...
  • The biggest risk I took...
  • The biggest surprise of the year...
  • The most important thing I did for others...
  • The biggest thing I completed...

And just as you feel you're through with all the penetrating questions, they end off the review section with this prompt:  Goodbye to your last year: If there is anything else left that you would like to write down, or there is anybody you would like to say goodbye to, do it now.

I took that as an opportunity to write a letter to myself and thank myself for all the hard work and carrying of burdens I'd endured. To thank me for all the gifts I'd bestowed on myself and allow that version of myself to take rest. Had a used my usual yearly review template, I would not have had the mere thought to perform such an act of personal kindness.

Once I had completed the booklet I was left with a great sense of alignment and peace. The goals and plans I'd set out did not only make sense, but they also aligned with every fibre of my being and held within them the seeds of health within every sphere of my life. I was no longer aligning with ideas, mine and those of others, I was aligning with my purpose.

You might be thinking, "Well, it's already May, I'll have to wait till December to try this." NO! Do it today, this week, this month, or next month! Your year begins when you decide! I did mine in mid-April and it was just in time.

I wish you a week of ease and peace. Stay you, stay great!