THE YEAR-END
POWER PAUSE

It’s our great joy to gift you with our Year-End Power Pause reflection process. Consider it an invitation and intentional way to take space for yourself both as a leader – one who guides, influences & supports so many – AND also as a human being – one who deserves a whole life, in which you are sustained, supported & have space for what matters most to you.

We crafted this as a “personal leadership retreat” you can do anytime throughout December or January – in one sitting or in segments over a few or several days. Whatever supports you this year. Take space for yourself to savor your progress, success, and growth, and the difference your presence, choices, energy, effort and care created in 2023 (which is likely more than you recognize…yet!)

Taking a “Power Pause” to complete your year can make a significant difference in how replenished and ready you are in the new year. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself at the end of the year is to reflect on your achievements and accomplishments, personally and professionally, in both what you have DONE and who you have BECOME. Acknowledge your successes, honor the stretches, release the shortcomings, and harvest the wisdom gained.

Created for leaders to reflect on your life as a whole, professionally, personally & relationally, the Year-end Power Pause process supports the whole-human you – all parts.

THE IMPACT: When you pause to reflect on all you have done + become, you FEEL + SEE the results of the energy, resources and time you’ve given. Your mind + body registers reality in a way that doesn’t occur if you don’t pause to reflect and receive. When you feel grateful and successful on the inside, you are more likely to focus your life force, time and resources going forward in the coming year on what really matters – professionally, personally and relationally.

Clear within, able to see progress in the past, and opportunity ahead, you can lead and live from your centered leadership presence in the coming year.

THE PROCESS: The Year End Power Pause includes 4 steps: Reflect. Receive. Release. Reset.

• REFLECT – review your accomplishments, progress, successes, wins, and impact – professionally & personally
• RECEIVE – pause to acknowledge, savor and honor what you have created, caused, and achieved
• RELEASE – transform the shorts, disappointments, and unexpected challenges
• RESET – gather wisdom learned from 2023 and apply it forward in 2024, reset focus for your year-end & year-start, and create space to restore and replenish so you go into 2024 fresh.

A hand-crafted, illustrated 13-page guidebook that walks you through the 4-step Power Pause. Includes visual thinking templates, intentional inquiries, step-by-step instructions and space to write in the guidebook (print single sided) or use your own paper/journal to write in.

Sometimes it’s just better to have someone walk you through an experience, share context and examples, provide creative inspiration, and lead you through step by step (so you can just relax and enjoy the process.) There are videos for each step, including visualizations to help you to slow down and tune in. Engage with all or just some.

We developed the Power Pause System so it’s flexible based on the space you want to take in any given year. Like a buffet, it’s all here for you, but this year you may only want the appetizer, or you may choose the full course.

Here’s what we recommend:

• Shift your mindset. Your normative mindset might drive you to approach this as another to-do, to drive through and get done. We encourage you to do this differently – this is a GIVE to yourself, a GET-TO, something for you to RECEIVE from.
• Make a choice from the 3 options below. Below are three options for the how you can engage with this creative, reflective process. Choose what feels good, this year. Don’t stress and do create space for yourself.
• Get started and see where your inspiration and desire takes you. You may end up doing less or more, depending on where your creativity leads you. Remember, this is the first time you are going through this process, so let it lead you.

Which Option Feels Good to You This Year?

A Few Suggestions to Get the Most Out of Your Year-End Power Pause

1. Print the Guidebook out (single-sided). Handwrite vs. type. The act of handwriting makes your brain and body work together in ways that are different than the computer and typing – taping into your whole brain & being. Print the Guidebook single-sided to give yourself extra space to write. If you don’t have a printer, you can download the Guidebook, and write on blank paper or a journal.
2. Choose when you want to complete your reflection process by but don’t be driven by made-up dates. Remember, Jan 1st is a made-up date that doesn’t have to create fabricated time pressure for you, and we do best when we choose a time span to work within. We call this “healthy time pressure.” The goal is to reflect and gather the wisdom before you choose goals and intentions professionally and personally for the next year cycle. Choose a desired completion date anytime in December or January, AND be flexible – you may complete this faster than you think, or you may really enjoy being languid in your reflection.
3. Use the videos we created for you as inspiration and creative stimulation. Our intention with giving you a video for each of the steps is to give you an experience of being guided through the creative process in ways that give you access to deeper insights, wisdom and innovation. We also find that different people have different learning styles, so our approach to creating experiences is always to provide ways for diverse styles and preferences to get what they desire. Don’t feel pressured to watch them all start to finish, and do try them out.
4. Do use what you learn to support you in the coming year – we call this creating from Momentum + Wisdom. In the step 4, Reset, we will walk you through creating a process to Harvest the Wisdom from this past year and apply it to the year to come. We encourage you to try this step, and complete the Wisdom & Wellbeing wheel for yourself, and keep it somewhere you can refer back to throughout the year.

Katherine Torrini is a graphic recorder, facilitator and strategic illustrator who has brought her visual magic to the likes of NASA, Dell, Coca-Cola, Chevron, AT&T, Southwest Airlines and The Institute for the Future. The common thread through all of Katherine’s work is her passion for reconnecting people to their innate creativity and empowering them to use it to live their most fulfilling lives—personally and professionally. Connect at www.CreativeCatalyst.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-torrini/.

Power Pauses are visually facilitated, cyclical planning sessions that provide a more creative and collaborative process to prioritizing, focusing, setting expectations and making progress on goals based on how humans and teams naturally work best. These strategic sessions usually happen at quarterly or twice-yearly intervals and work great for teams or for leader/managers, and include:

• The Year-Start or Year-End Power Pause: Creating From Momentum – occurs in mid-late January for teams, giving teams a place to land post-holiday, or in early December to create a path for downshifting. The focus is on reflecting on the team successes, shorts, and impact, and create a path and focused priorities to sustainable success and wellbeing in the next year, from the wisdom gained and lessons learned.
• The Team Prioritizing & Synergy Power Pause – occurs at the start of the business calendar year or in March or September for teams to get clear on how best to focus, prioritize and work together for a specific time span – year, half year, or quarter. Can include workshops focused on working wiser vs. harder, stress personalities & wellbeing strategies, and creating greater synergy & connection among team members.
• The Mid-Year Power Pause: Review. Re-align. Refocus. – occurs in July/August for teams or managers & leaders to pause at half-year, review goals & priorities, and re-set focus for the second half of year.

This whole-brain approach, centered around sustainable success for individuals, teams, and organizations, alleviates burnout and overwhelm, reduces fragmentation of resources and unnecessary work, and leads to an overall greater impact to business success and employee wellbeing. Individuals and teams become more innovative, flexible and resilient, and people feel more engaged, connected and empowered.

The Power Pause methodology is a propriety system that can be customized and licensed for teams and organizations through the Expanding Possibility Consulting Group. We love working with teams, training leaders & managers, and creating experiences for people that support both individual & organizational wellbeing and success. We ask that these materials and processes are not reproduced or shared. Thank you.

To learn more or explore bringing this to your team, group or organization:
Reach out to Christine Arylo at Christine@ExpandingPossibility.org