13. Back to the Future: Let’s (Quarterly) Review!
Show Notes
Big 3 Ideas from this episode:
How much time do you spend in the past? In the future?
A Quarterly Review can be a calming and grounding practice in your art - and business.
Here’s a tool for Quarterly Review to help you stay on track for the year.
EPISODE No. 13
a Quarter of the Way There
I’ve found that my brain needs to step back
and get perspective about once every 3 months.
It’s a cycle that works in nature, too.
Looking back and looking forward helps you stay on track.
“What a strange thing, to be alive, beneath cherry blossoms.”
-Kobayashi Issa, 1763 - 1828
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TRANSCRIPT:
Episode 13: Back to the Future - Let’s (Quarterly) Review!
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[00:00:00] The metaphor mindset is a podcast for artists and creative thinkers, entrepreneurs and leaders who want to explore ideas around creativity and commerce.
[00:00:19] And this is episode 13. Let's review.
[00:01:06] Hello my friends. Last week I talked about creative meditation, how using your imagination in the present moment can bring new ideas and help you work through existing ideas. This is an example of using the present moment as a tool, but time gives us other tools as well.
[00:01:24] The past and future are tools that our brain uses to help us stay grounded and to create goals to think about what we want to do next.
[00:01:33] This week is the end of the first quarter and the end of the first quarter of this podcast. I can't believe that I've actually created 13 episodes.
[00:01:44] So I thought it would be a good time to talk about the idea of taking stock, reviewing your intentions, and doing a quarterly review. This sounds all corporate and everything, but I love this process. I love sitting down and looking back and looking forward, seeing how far I've come and where I want to go next.
[00:02:03] Today, I'll give you three tools to help you do a fun quarterly review of your art, your projects, your creative process, or your business.
[00:02:12] Number one. Did well -do better.
[00:02:15] In art, we're always educating ourselves in self-critique in classes. We step back from our work with a neutral and critical eye to see what we've done well and what we can do better. I love this. Did well Do better model, and I learned this tool from a leadership group I was a part of Leadership San Juan Islands.
[00:02:38] It's super easy to do. and helpful for many reasons. At the end of any project, job event, seminar, workshop, class day, we would sit down with the group and a big piece of paper with a line drawn down the middle on one side at the top, Write "Did Well". Then we listed all the things that went [00:03:00] well. For instance, my annual artist retreat at the beginning of this year, someone mentioned the venue was amazing.
[00:03:06] We held the retreat at my artist friend Lisa Lamoreaux Airbnb, a huge house up in the forest overlooking the Salish Sea. It has a beautiful deck, a big open kitchen, and gorgeous decor. We listed all the things that went well that day that were good decisions, and that came.
[00:03:24] the way that we expected, or even better.
[00:03:27] Then on the right hand side of the page, we wrote, do better, and then with no judgment We listed, all the things that didn't go as planned or that would've been better if they were different. For my list it was simplify the agenda. That's always what it is for me. Take one thing out so it doesn't feel rushed. Add 30 extra minutes at the beginning of the day so people have even more time to get there, get settled, have coffee and talk.
[00:03:55] Then we just read down the lists and talked about them with ideas or thoughts, celebration, praise, and improvement.
[00:04:01] This review tool Did well, Do better, is such a great way to help everyone in the room feel heard and involved. And when you're doing it just for yourself, it helps you make sure to include good things, not just the mistakes you made or the things that didn't go as planned.
[00:04:17] \ So I really suggest \using this simple tool after any event or show, even if you're just looking at a painting critiquing it, but also at the end of the quarter so you can look back and see how everything went and what you can improve.
[00:04:31] Number two and three are opposite sides of the same coin.
[00:04:35] One side of the coin is passed and one is future. In January, the month of Janus, the two faced. God, we look backwards at the past year and we look forward to the new. So I call this the Janus coin exercise. So take a coin and flip it or spin it.
[00:04:53] Heads is the future and tails is the past.
[00:04:56] Tales will do the past first. So drag out one of your journals from last year or two years ago, or 10 years ago. If you don't keep a. . Just look at a calendar or think about what you were doing during that time. I look back at what I was doing this week, one year ago.
[00:05:15] Then sit with your journal and write an entry about today and about the time that you're looking at and see how far you've come. this often sparks new ideas or reminds you of something you wanted to accomplish
[00:05:29] One year ago. Today I was reading two books on the forms of nature. The first one is called On Growth and Form. It was written in 1917 by Darcy Wentworth Thompson. The second one is called Patterns in Nature by Philip Ball from 2016.
[00:05:44] I took a lot of notes about these books, which is what I like to do in my journal as well. But this quote stands out. "Form is a frozen memory of growth." That makes sense here. Sometimes our growth gets frozen in our brains, and it's hard to break out of it.
[00:05:59] [00:06:00] I wrote right below, itThe pattern of a crack is like a frozen replica of the spark that caused it." This quote was written by Philip Ball 100 years later. Form is a frozen memory of. and the pattern of a crack is like a frozen replica of the spark that caused it.
[00:06:20] It's the same idea, but Philip Ball talks about a spark that can start a new pattern in nature.
[00:06:26] So this is what looking back and forward can do. It can spark new ideas to help us create new patterns. And I would've never found that quote if I hadn't looked back on that exact day in my journal one year ago. It's something I really want to remember,
[00:06:41] it's a way that nature works that I really want to think about in my own.
[00:06:45] This process often brings up discomfort, especially when you look.
[00:06:49] I often cringe about things that I did in the past, but it also gives you a chance to look at how far you've come and notice your emotions around that. When we grow, it is painful, but if you can look back with compassion to that person that you used to be, that will come in handy. When we use the future as a tool.
[00:07:08] It's like in that quote from back to the future, when Jennifer sees herself 30 years in the future. , her universe may explode, but that's the risk we have to take for growth.
[00:07:18] Number three. So now we have the other side of the coin heads. Let's use the future as a tool. So I'd like you to think about where you are going. If you chose a word for the. This year, write that down on a piece of paper. if you haven't chosen a word for the year, you can choose one right now or you can change the one you already chose.
[00:07:41] There's still time at any point in this exercise. My word for the year is courage. And I've been trying to exercise it in unexpected ways. For instance, one of the biggest issues I have is having the courage to actually do the things I say I'm going to do.
[00:07:58] Using the future as a tool allows us to dream possible outcomes. Imagine new ideas and set goals for ourselves, and looking to the future allows us to be compassionate for our present and past selves.
[00:08:11] when I look back at what I was going through several years ago and how I was wanting things to be different, I have compassion for that person and it allows me to look at the present moment and think everything is fine.
[00:08:22] Just now, I can still set goals and yet still be happy in this present moment. , it helps me to have perspective.
[00:08:30] in one of my favorite. The presentation of self in everyday life. Irving Goffman talks about the social coin.
[00:08:37] Like all coins. The social coin has two sides. On one side is awe, a w e. When we are in awe of someone or something, Goffman says. That we often then go to the other side of the coin and experience shame. So on one side of the coin is awe. On the other side is shame. Goffman talks [00:09:00] about how this social coin is used in every aspect of our culture in religion.
[00:09:05] When we have awe, that means that we're looking up at the Saints or God or someone that's we consider to be perfect. And that triggers shame in ourselves as sinners. That's what he's talking about. This is not always the way it works, but it's really interesting to see the ways in our lives that this social coin is used.
[00:09:25] When you see an artist that you admire a lot, we immediately want to compare ourselves to that person. This is where that shame comes in. What I'm offering today is that this coin is the coin of your own personal realm. The coin of the realm and the realm that you rule is your own empire.
[00:09:45] This is part of the empire mentality that Christine Kane talks about. . So the coin of your realm of your empire gets imprinted with your own image. This is the currency that you spend your time on and your energy, it has your face on it. That coin can be worth whatever you want it to be. It can be a gold dubloon or it can be a half penny on one side, instead of awe.
[00:10:10] You can imprint hope the future. You can imprint pride in looking back. So instead of awe and shame, you have hope and pride. These are just two options for what you can imprint on your coin. So this is what I'm thinking about today in your quarterly.
[00:10:29] as the empress of your realm, you get to decide what you imprint onto that coin.
[00:10:34] When I think of this, I think about the past of my own family. My great-great-grandfather, Henry Maben, was from a family of carriage painters in Brighton, England In the 1840s, there was a huge shift from carriages to steam trains.
[00:10:49] So they had these races from London to Brighton to see how fast the carriages could run.
[00:10:54] And there were many crashes and people and horses dying on the roads because of these races. It was in the news a lot.
[00:11:00] My great-great-grandfather Henry and his father lost their carriage business. They went bankrupt and a few years later they started the business.
[00:11:09] More tragedy struck Henry and his wife Sarah, who had two children, had another baby who died. So with all of this happening, and his father passing away. Henry and Sarah decided to come to America
[00:11:23] like so many people did at the time. They joined the Mormon church and sailed to the. and rode in wagon trains and walked to Salt Lake City. Henry was an artist, a singer, a poet, and he wrote songs on the ship and stage performances to help people keep their spirits up. He was always thinking about the future.
[00:11:40] He was a dreamer. When he got to Salt Lake, he ended up becoming the artist who drew the first money in Utah. This was before, it was the state of Utah. It was called the State of Deseret. His name is right on it, drawn by Henry Maben.
[00:11:54] There's a picture of it on the podcast website, metaphor mindset.com. He also [00:12:00] helped start the first opera and ballet in Salt Lake City. He was a choreographer and a director, and he acted in many plays. He also had a paint company and a drugstore.
[00:12:10] He died of pneumonia at age 59. So when I used the past as a tool, I look at people like my great-great grandparents. and how driven and resourceful they were. And it makes me laugh that he actually drew, signed and printed money. So when I think of this currency idea, I think Grandpa Henry would've been proud
[00:12:29] so when you're doing the Janus coin exercise, spinning your coin for the. And the future, and thinking about your word of the Year, take a piece of paper out, write your word of the year on the top, and then list all the ways that you can learn from that word and that you can embody that word for the year.
[00:12:48] When you look back or forward, you get to decide what you want to feel. I want to feel pride in what I've done and compassion for the person I was trying to become. On the future side, I want to feel hope. I want to feel courage. This isn't always easy, of course, and sometimes it's been terribly hard, but when we use the past and future as tools and understand them as such, they can shift and change whatever we're doing so we're not at the mercy of our brains or someone else's idea of how we should think about the past and future.
[00:13:16] I'm incorporating a new feature into the podcast. This is a sponsorship or advertising. You can become a sponsor of this podcast and I will create an ad for you and your artwork. This will develop over time, but basically I will create a 15 second advert of you and your art with your help and creativity.
[00:13:37] Of course. To do this, you can visit metaphor mindset.com to find out more. This suggestion is from my fellow co dependable and one of my best friends, Kevin Forhan.
[00:13:48] Here's an example.
[00:13:50] Today's episode is brought to you by the color orange.
[00:13:54] This is the color Van Gogh used to capture the sun.
[00:13:57] Cezanne said, I will astonish Paris with an apple, but for me, the oranges have it, bringing life to winter.
[00:14:04] if you'd like to learn more about Orange, visit your local art gallery, museum, or bookstore. You won't have to look far. Orange has a way of finding you.
[00:14:17] Paris with an
[00:14:18] an apple.
[00:14:18] But for me, the
[00:14:20] oranges have it.
[00:14:23] Paris, with an
[00:14:24] an apple.
[00:14:26] But for me, Paris
[00:14:27] with an apple,
[00:14:28] Paris with an
[00:14:29] an apple,
[00:14:30] But for me, the oranges have it.
[00:14:34] Bringing life.
[00:14:35] bringing life.
[00:14:36] I will astonish Paris with an apple, But for me, the oranges have it.
[00:14:42] Paris with an apple but for me, the oranges have
[00:14:45] it. Bringing life to winter,
[00:14:52] thanks everyone and have a courageously creative week. [00:15:00]
Springtime!
From the episode:
Resources:
Back to the Future - with Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qEBJnzuLiA
Ball, Phillip, Patterns in Nature: Why the World Looks as it Does, 2016
Thompson, D’Arcy Wentworth, On Growth and Form, 1917
Lisa Lamoreaux’s Air BNB on San Juan Island - It’s gorgeous! Email me at hello@shannonborg.com for info.
Become a Sponsor of The Metaphor Mindset Podcast
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor (like the color Orange did), click the button to set up a meeting - we’ll talk about your business and how we can create an advertisement on my podcast for you - and an image and link on my site and in my newsletter, The Crux, to promote you and your work!
