I got a jump-start on the Year of the Peer today (the day after Christmas), as I participated in my CEO World online group meeting, where we reflected on 2016 and talked about our goals for 2017. Sharing my goals out loud with a group of my peers helps me hold myself accountable to what I want to achieve in life. Rather than make a New Year’s resolution I’m likely to break, I make a promise to myself that I’m far more inclined to keep, not only because I expressed it to my peers, but also because these are the people who will be there for me next year and who will help me do what I said I want to do. And I’ll be there for them as well.
During our group meeting, I was asked, “What did you learn last year?” I immediately thought about what Rahfeal Gordon said to me when we recorded his podcast last week (which will post February 23rd). Rahfeal said that he lives his life by living up to high standards as opposed measuring success or failure against his or others’ lofty expectations. I feel as if I’ve approached my work on peer advantage and the Year of the Peer with that in mind – in part because I’m not sure what to expect! 😉 Yet, I couldn’t help appreciate the manner in which Rahfeal articulated it for me in such a powerful and simple way. He taught me how to express this idea more clearly to others.
If there’s anything the audiences at events, readers of this blog, or listeners to my podcast can do for the cause (and me) next year, other than to spread the word, lend a helping hand to your peers, and contribute your own thoughts and ideas to the dialogue, it’s to hold me to a high standard of delivering peer-to-peer value. With that, I would appreciate anything you have to share with me on that front, and I promise you that I’ll work to be better each and every day. (There, I said it out loud!)
With a great deal of help, I hope that, together, we can inspire a new consciousness about what peer advantage can mean for all of us if we just put our minds to it. If we embrace the concept “who you surround yourself with matters” just a little more tightly, I think we’re in for a prosperous 2017.
Happy New Year everyone! #yearofthepeer