One of the best ways to start your working year is to hold an AGM for yourself
As the new year gets into gear, many of us are sitting through strategic planning sessions and drawing up schedules for what might come. It’s the norm for most corporate worker bees. But are you applying the same kind of foresight to yourself?
In my three years of full-time freelance journalism I have learnt many things about how to run my own ship, from getting clients to keeping them. Yet some of the most decisive moments happened not at my desk, but when I took a step back. I believe this practice may be helpful to you whether you clock in from 9 to 5 or make and sell clocks yourself.
Once or twice a year, I go to a coffee shop and have a meeting with myself. I call it the Annual General Meeting of People Who Annually Generally Meet (a clever line blatantly stolen from the movie Elizabethtown).
Here I do much of what most strategic meetings do, but apply it to myself. I review the past months, sketching a realistic view of the kind of work I did, my income and my overall experience of work. I ask myself tough questions, like whether I am putting my energy and time into places that are not bringing me joy or value. I face up to the mistakes I have made.
But I also take time to celebrate. I think back to what fulfilled me the most in the past time period and the work I felt had a positive impact. I thank myself and all that is good, that I paid rent, and perhaps even thrived.
Then I plan forward. I turn what I felt was lacking into goals and, where appropriate, actionable steps. Sometimes this means setting boundaries with myself about what I won’t accept going forward.
At other times this looks more like creating systems that will help me organise and track my work better.
The reason I find this process so important is quite simple, but was rather groundbreaking for me as someone stepping out of a structured work environment. I must credit business coach Brent Spilkin and his resources about freelancing for inspiring this thinking – another reminder that, even if you’re alone in your office, you’re never alone on the journey.
Every large business is typically split into two in some way, with management making strategic choices and workers executing them. When you work for yourself or are considering your personal trajectory in a work sense, the same applies to some degree. Both need their space and time.
When you expect the person who’s drowning in deadlines to make decisions about what’s next or where their boundaries are, you are unlikely to get the most effective outcome. And if you work without ever asking yourself about the big picture, you are equally unlikely to find the drive and direction you might crave.
The AGM practice is a moment for my “worker self” to stand down, and my strategic self to lead the way.
This past December, I realised I am not the only one who needs this, and I don’t have to do this alone either. I decided to open up my AGMoPWAGM (a doubtful acronym, I know) to a few freelance friends of different sorts. We sat, each going through our own process, comforted and encouraged by our togetherness.
We came from different disciplines and our ways of working were just as varied. But, from the photographer to the poet, each person could look back at their year and see a journey of growth that often just looked like a challenge when we were in the midst of it.
When it came to goal setting, I saw something remarkable change in my friends. The dreams were wildly different, but defining them sparked something beautiful and vulnerable, in that each person now knew what they wanted to hold themselves to. This was scary and brought up insecurities that one might fail, but also opened up a way forward that was not clear before.
Regardless of what your work situation is like, I can make a pretty good guess that you may have some dreams, big and small, lurking. With a little strategy and a moment of purposeful planning, the new year is something you can begin with hope. Till we meet ourselves again.
Once or twice a year, I go to a coffee shop and have a meeting with myself. I call it the Annual General Meeting of People Who Annually Generally Meet