Enjoying the Journey

What was your last big project? Take a moment to bask in the memories. As you reflect on your experience, what was the high point and what insights do you have now? How has what you learned influenced your work?

Context for the Queries

Just last week I completed a long-term project for my Appreciative Inquiry facilitator certification. Re-living (through reading my notes, emails, documents, and reviewing recordings of the meetings), reflecting on all the aspects of the experiences, and creating the final report was a significant endeavor.

As I was finishing up, I happened to say to my daughter with a chuckle, “I made this harder than it needed to be.” And, I felt just fine about it! I was reminded of my Signature Strength of Creativity  (from the VIA Signature Strengths Test)—how it excites and energizes me, pushing me into new and different experiences. And, how it is my greatest challenge, while I love to continue being generative, truth be told, there is a time to say, “Done!”

Have you ever done that—embrace a project so completely that you devote more time than you anticipated? How long does it take you to realize that you have gone down that rabbit hole? What is your thought process in assessing if you want to continue in that way? Upon completion and reflection, did you think it was time well spent? Of course, the answers may vary depending on the project.

I discovered, in creating my final report, that I wanted to create a visual story of the process. In itself, creating multi-panel stories is not a new idea for me, though I usually use markers and paper or my iPad. This time, having worked with Miro (the online collaborative space) for over 10 months now, I took a deep dive into it—expanding my skills through extensive experimentation. I had an initial plan and it grew into a fun and challenging endeavor.

Here’s one of the 14 panels I created to share the project—its conception,

The time and energy I devoted to designing and developing the online presentation of the project has led me to savor that aspect of the experience. It’s something I would never have expected—what fun!

What do you continue to learn about yourself? How are you continuing to grow? I’d love to know!