🧠 Weekly Mind Sweep #100| Curated Conversation | Reflection
December 2023
*Week 100: Curated Conversation; Reflection
Week 101: Mind Your Business; Reflection
Week 102: Manage Your Mind; Reflection
Week 103: What’s On My Mind; Reflection
New to the Weekly MindSweep? Past issues live here.
Let’s sweep the brain…
December is a time of year when we feel called to slow down and look back.
Sprinkle in some of November's gratitude and anxiety-inducing marketing; we'll all "finish the year strong!"
No pressure.
That doesn't interest you either? You're in the right place.
not everyone agrees, and that’s okI practice daily and weekly reflection and will begin to share more of what that means. Let's support local small businesses every day. Let's all take a thoughtful, meaningful approach to life and business with integrity. Let's use the practice of reflection all year long.
But what is a reflective practice, and why does it matter?
Let's take a closer look at the definition of reflection:
re·flec·tion
/rəˈflekSH(ə)n/
Noun
1. the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
"the reflection of light"
2. serious thought or consideration.
"he doesn't get much time for reflection."
And something with a more profound sense of meaning:
"Reflection is a deeper form of learning that allows us to retain every aspect of any experience, be it personal or professional — why something took place, what the impact was, whether it should happen again — as opposed to just remembering that it happened. It's about tapping into every aspect of the experience, clarifying our thinking, and honing in on what really matters to us." Geil Browning, Ph.D.*
Ok. Well, I'm not here to write my memoir yet, so for today, let's focus on The Weekly MindSweep.
As with most Curated Conversation topics, we could discuss reflection all year. Alas, we will continue to break it down into our four-week template:
Week 1: CURATED CONVERSATION
Week 2: MIND YOUR BUSINESS
Week 3: MANAGE YOUR MIND
Week 4: WHAT'S ON MY MIND
Some of you may have heard my story of being sent to the principal's office by my Freshman English teacher. I was 15, disrespectful, and deserving of everything from that moment forward.
That experience led me to believe I needed to catch up on many foundational tools I needed to write.
For the longest time, I told myself I wasn't a writer. My inner critic would say, "You can't write."
I was tired of that story; writing was the only way to improve.
January 4, 2022, the first Weekly MindSweep was born. As I sit to reflect and write the 100th Weekly MindSweep, I feel a deep sense of gratitude [1] for every one of you for being on this journey with me. [2]
If you return to read number one and compare it to today, you can see the evolution and growth. When 2023 arrived, there was increased trust in myself, my ideas, and my writing. This awareness began to shape the Weekly MindSweep into what it is today.
There is a dopamine rush to bringing an idea to Curated Conversation with all of my internal biases', thoughts, experiences, and ideas and having entrepreneurs join me at the table to share all of theirs to broaden everyone's perspective.
We dig, we cultivate, we learn, and we grow. Together.
We've covered a lot of topics in 2023. [3]
January - Ego
February - Neurodiversity
March - Capacity
April - Relationship
May - Patience
June - Intent
July - Permission
August - Compassion
September - Decision
October - Failure
November - Kindness
December - Reflection
Thank you for reflecting on topics with me every Monday at 8 am. There is a lot more to come.
I believe these conversations and this newsletter ripple into our relationships, homes, entrepreneurial community, and, eventually, the world.
Over the next few weeks, we'll discuss what reflection means to you and why it could be valuable to you and your business, and we'll learn more about reflection and the brain. Join us for Curated Conversation and gather with us in the Chickbook Creative Community.
The cost is your time, energy, and attention. Ok, there's also the willingness to consider other's perspectives and to check your ego at the door.
Our community is free to join, collaborate, promote, and share.
Let's build something YOU are proud of.
Did you have a topic in 2023 that impacted you or your business?
Reply to this email and tell me about it!
Are you ready to build a business you are proud of?
Let’s discuss how you can begin today!
A place for my digressions.
[1] Gratitude. Cliché. Let's practice that daily!
[2] Extra credit points if you've read them all. If you haven't, there is still time before we reach 2024! Here is the very first one!
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What I’m reading
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
“We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.”
What I’m listening to:
This American Life - 810 - Say it to my face.
Friends and ex-friends finally talk about the one thing between them they've been avoiding.
Prologue: Host Ira Glass tells a story he’s never told anyone before, about something someone said to him. (4 minutes)
Act One: Gabe Mollica had something important he needed to discuss with his friend — stewed about it for eight years. But rather than go to that friend, he talked about it with everyone other than that one person. (28 minutes)
Act Two: Jasmine and Gabbie are best friends. BFFs! But there’s something major that they’ve never been able to talk about. Something so important that it makes them wonder, who does this person even think I am? (23 minutes)
Collaborations!
MetroWest Chamber
Bring Your Laptop & Coffee to this Unique Session with Shannon & Me!
Limited to 12 Spots
Friday December 1st, 2023
9am-11am
Free to Attend; Registration is Required
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