THE YEAR-END
POWER PAUSE
A reflection process for
emerging & established leaders
WITH CHRISTINE ARYLO & KATHERINE TORRINI
LIBRARY - Guidebook + Videos + Visualizations
Welcome to Library for the Year-End <-> Year-Start Power Pause
What you will find here are a set of videos for each of the 4-steps plus a completion video, in which we will walk you through the process, as well as the Year End Power Pause Guidebook (access the guidebook here).
You will also find a bonus recording of the Year-Start Creating from Momentum Workshop we facilitated live, and the corresponding guidebook. (scroll to the bottom on this page for recording and guidebook)
- REFLECT – review your accomplishments, progress, successes, wins, personally and professionally.
- 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 this past year and apply it forward in the next, reset focus for your year-end & year-start, and create space to restore and replenish so go into the new year fresh.
- COMPLETE – set yourself up for the coming year cycle
Note: 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. Learn more at www.TeamPowerPauses.com
We hope you find this Personal Leadership Edition of the Power Pause supportive, energizing and enlightening!
START HERE : OVERVIEW of the REFLECTION PROCESS... and the Power Behind It.
To get started:
- Tune into the Introduction video. This will give you an overview of the reflection process.
- Access the guidebook and decide if you are going to Print it (recommended) or work with the PDF.
- We’ve also included a short list of tips for getting the most out of this experience. As well as three options to choose from for how much time you’d like to dedicate and how deep you’d like to go
- Then start with Step 1: Reflect.
- Then…. the Year-Start Creating from Momentum workshop recordings + Guidebook from our live Jan 9th session are below.
Recommendation to complete anytime before February 1st.
Note: We recommend viewing the videos in full screen mode. Makes it more of an experience we are doing together, vs. a video you are watching. Also you may want to bookmark this page, or we made the URL very simple to find again www.PowerPauseLibrary.com
A Few Suggestions to Get the Most Out of Your Year-End Power Pause
- 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.
- Choose when you want to complete your reflection process – anytime in Dec or Jan. Don’t be driven by made-up dates. Do be flexible based on what feels in the flow for you. 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. Note: You may complete this faster than you think, or you may really enjoy being languid in your reflection.
- Use the videos we created for you as inspiration and creative stimulation. Don’t feel pressured to watch them all start to finish, and do try them out. Our intention is to give you an experience of being guided through the creative process in ways that give you access to deeper insights. People have different learning styles, so our approach to creating experiences is to provide ways for diverse styles and preferences to get what they desire.
- 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 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.
Choose How You Want to Do The Power Pause This Year
| Option | All 4-Parts Self-Led | All 4-Parts Self-Led + Videos | Short: Successes Only Self-Led / Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials | Print out the Guidebook + follow the written directions + use the visual templates. | Print out the Guidebook + use videos. We'll walk you through the processes in each step + share context, examples and inspiration. | Print out the Guidebook and do steps 1 & 2 this year: Reflect & Receive + watch the videos for these two steps. |
| Time | Plan for about 2 hours. Do in one sitting or in segments over a time span (i.e. a week or two) at your leisure and delight. | Plan for 3-4 hours. Do as a half-day retreat for yourself, or break into two segments and do over a time span (Reflect + Receive, then Release + Reset). | Plan for 60-90 minutes. Do self-led with guidebook only. Or tune in to videos & we'll lead you through. |
STEP ONE: REFLECT
Illuminate the Successes & Progress
and How You Made a Difference & Grew
We start the Power Pause by shining light on the successes you’ve achieved this year – there are more than you are likely giving yourself credit for! There are two videos for this step, as outlined in the Guidebook in the Reflect section:
- Part One: Redefining Your Definition of Success – we’ll take you through 7 ways to start expanding your definition of success, which is going to elevate your mindset for how you see your own success, and give you a deeper sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and impact.
- Part Two: Remembering Process, Visualization & Making Your Successes Visible – we’ll briefly walk you through the overall process, including how to look through at your life through both a personal + professional lens in 4 categories each, and work with the templates. Around 13:00 in, Christine will take you through a guided visualization back through the year.
Part One:
Part Two:
STEP TWO: RECEIVE
Acknowledge the Impact of your Choices, Care & Effort,
the Progress Made & The Growth You’ve Achieved
This next step is essential, do not skip it. Two reasons we feel so much pressure to keep moving, doing, and making stuff happen are that we judge we should have accomplished & done more, and we rarely pause to acknowledge & feel proud of what we’ve done & become this past year.
Your mind + body + heart all need to register that the events of the past actually happened, at a visceral, felt level or it’s like they never occurred. We’ll take you through a creative way to feel, honor, acknowledge and even celebrate the result of the energy, effort, care and presence you gave.
STEP THREE: RELEASE
Release & Transform this Year’s “Shorts”
into Self-Supportive, Empowering Action
When you release the self-criticism & disappointment tied to the shortcomings that occurred in the past year, you stop repeating the same self-sabotaging habits & choices. When you acknowledge the impact of the unexpected challenges that arose this past year that were out of your control, the stress and invisible pressure releases, and you can walk into next year lighter.
We will take you through a 3-step process to provide insight, relief and a supportive, empowering way to move forward, with two visual templates that take this beyond a mental exercise into an embodied release and transformation.
Note: This video is the longest in the process because as it turns out, we need space to touch into the unconscious feelings lurking just below the surface and then transform them into wisdom and action that can be truly useful (and liberating) going forward. Don’t let that scare you – think of this like a 38-minute massage for your head & heart to work out the knots. ☺
STEP FOUR: RESET
Harvest the Wisdom So How &
What You Do in the Coming Year Happens with
More Ease, Grace & Clarity
What you are looking for here are what we call “pearls of wisdom” that were likely earned through yours and others effort, resiliency and capacity to rise to meet challenges and opportunities this past year.
We’ll take you through a 3-step experience using the visual thinking template that is like a compass that can guide you into and through next year – we call it the Wisdom & Wellbeing Wheel. Like harvesting a field that you tended all year, this is where all the gold to take into next year is.
YEAR-START Creating from Momentum Workshop (optional)
Harvest the Wisdom So How &
What You Do in the Coming Year Happens with
More Ease, Grace & Clarity
Creating from Momentum: Re-Energize. Re-align. Re-Committ is a workshop that is part of the Year End-Start Power Pause for Emerging and Established Leaders. Created and facilitated by Christine Arylo and Katherine Torrini. Facilitated live in January 2026.
>> Access the Guidebook - Click Here.
The video recordings are below.
Part One
Part Two
WRAP UP & COMPLETION
Where to Go From Here &
What and How to Share
Repeat this text and I will fix later. What you are looking for here are what we call “pearls of wisdom” that were likely earned through yours and others effort, resiliency and capacity to rise to meet challenges and opportunities this past year.
We’ll take you through a 3-step experience using the visual thinking template that is like a compass that can guide you into and through next year – we call it the Wisdom & Wellbeing Wheel. Like harvesting a field that you tended all year, this is where all the gold to take into next year is.
About Your Facilitators & The Power Pause System
Christine Arylo, MBA, is a transformational leadership advisor, teacher, and author who works with emerging & established leaders to create new ways of working and making an impact that lead to sustainable success & wellbeing for people, teams, organizations and the planet. Marrying 25 years of business & entrepreneurial experience with 20 years of extensive human-consciousness & leadership training, she’s known for bringing new perspectives, profound insight, and practical tools that empower people to lead within their lives, organizations, communities, and relationships differently. Arylo is a best-selling author of 4 books, a TEDx speaker, and an expert at developing transformational experiences & innovative learning curriculum. Connect at ChristineArylo.com or www.linkedin.com/in/christinearylo/.
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/.
About The Strategic Power Pause Cyclical Planning, Prioritizing & Wellbeing System for Teams and Groups
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:
This whole-brain approach, centered around sustainable success for individuals, teams, and organizations:
- Alleviates burnout and overwhelm
- Reduces fragmentation of resources and unnecessary work
- 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.
“Strategic Power Pauses Catalyzed Us into a Much Stronger Team. The Power Pause workshops turned my skeptical accounting team into an actual team: by cataloging everything we’d survived and achieved, people dropped their defenses, saw each other’s load, and began working as one instead of a herd of exhausted individuals.” – SVP, Chief Accounting Officer
To learn more or explore bringing this to your team, group or organization visit www.TeamPowerPause.com or reach out to Christine Arylo here.