In Episode 168 of the Further Your Lifestyle podcast, host Chris guides listeners through the Rose, Thorn, Bud framework to reflect on the first half of 2024. This effective tool helps in personal and professional growth by recognizing successes (Rose), challenges (Thorn), and future opportunities (Bud). Chris shares his own experiences and prompts listeners with guided questions to make the most of their reflection process. Tune in to set your intentions and ensure the second half of the year is your best yet.
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:35 Mid-Year Reflection Framework: Rose, Thorn, Bud 03:03 Setting Intentions for Reflection 04:19 Rose: Celebrating Successes 06:05 Thorn: Acknowledging Challenges 07:44 Bud: Identifying Opportunities 09:28 Reflecting on Progress and Setting Goals 13:57 Conclusion and Encouragement
Podcast Sponsors: Hi Voltage Bargains Robert Piper Ethan “Rooshock” The BOLO Hunter Tiger4Life73 2ndHandGuy Vic Cazie Blossom
► SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on ▹ Spotify | https://bit.ly/FYL_Spotify ▹ Apple Podcast | https://bit.ly/FYL_Apple ▹ Google Podcast | https://bit.ly/FYL_GooglePod
► Let's CONNECT on social media: ▹ instagram | http://www.instagram.com/furtheryourlifestyle ▹ twitter | http://www.twitter.com/furtheryourlife ▹ email | hello@furtheryourlifestyle.com
In Episode 168 of the Further Your Lifestyle podcast, host Chris guides listeners through the Rose, Thorn, Bud framework to reflect on the first half of 2024. This effective tool helps in personal and professional growth by recognizing successes (Rose), challenges (Thorn), and future opportunities (Bud). Chris shares his own experiences and prompts listeners with guided questions to make the most of their reflection process. Tune in to set your intentions and ensure the second half of the year is your best yet.
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:35 Mid-Year Reflection Framework: Rose, Thorn, Bud 03:03 Setting Intentions for Reflection 04:19 Rose: Celebrating Successes 06:05 Thorn: Acknowledging Challenges 07:44 Bud: Identifying Opportunities 09:28 Reflecting on Progress and Setting Goals 13:57 Conclusion and Encouragement
Podcast Sponsors: Hi Voltage Bargains Robert Piper Ethan “Rooshock” The BOLO Hunter Tiger4Life73 2ndHandGuy Vic Cazie Blossom
► SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on ▹ Spotify | https://bit.ly/FYL_Spotify ▹ Apple Podcast | https://bit.ly/FYL_Apple ▹ Google Podcast | https://bit.ly/FYL_GooglePod
► Let's CONNECT on social media: ▹ instagram | http://www.instagram.com/furtheryourlifestyle ▹ twitter | http://www.twitter.com/furtheryourlife ▹ email | hello@furtheryourlifestyle.com
Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 168 today. And we've actually just hit the middle of the year. We are just about to finish FY24. At the time of this episode, we're also about to jump into FY25, but it is June 30th of 2024, which means we're halfway through the year, which you know what that means. It means it's a great chance to take a moment to reflect and see how we've been progressing for the year. Today we're going to be talking about a little framework, which I've spoken about a few times here on the podcast, which is Rose Thorn and Bud, and I'll take you through what that looks like. How does it play a part in helping us reflect? And then I actually want to go through this with you. We're going to go through some guided questions, we're going to go through a number of different prompts and work through this. I'll give some of my own perspective and some of my own thoughts, but it's really for you to be able to take a moment, leverage this framework and start to really understand how you've gone this year so far, and are there things that you can start to make a change for in the second half of the year to make this year your best year? Yet I like to think that every year is our best year because when we apply ourselves even though maybe it doesn't compare to the same level as it did last year if we're constantly growing in new areas and changing and learning, becoming better self-aware of ourselves and all the things that we're trying to do, it is always going to be a better year. Plus, it's another year you're alive, it's another year you'll be healthy, it's another year that you're breathing, and who knows where we will be in a couple of years from now. But I think as long as we have that same idea and focus on where we want to be and we're working towards that, then it can only get better. So the whole purpose of this is really just to see how we can benefit from the past and make sure we are learning from the past as well, and then go apply these things, looking forward in our professional and personal lives.
Speaker 1:
What does the rose thorn bud process even look like? And then we're going to get into the podcast. But the rose thorn bud process and I'll put this up on screen is a simple yet effective reflection and feedback tool often used in personal development, team building and project management. Here's a brief overview of each component. So the rose part is this represents the positive aspects or the highlights or successes. It's about identifying what went well, what you enjoyed and what you were proud of. The thorn, however, this stands for the challenges, the difficulties or the areas that need improvement, and it's about recognizing what didn't do well or what was problematic. And then bud is. This signifies the potential opportunities, areas for growth or future possibilities. It's all about identifying what you are looking forward to and what has potential for development. Now, the whole idea of this is it balances and encourages the balance of reflection by acknowledging the pros, the cons and the things in between which, potentially, are going to enable us for a better way forward. So before we do get started, before we roll the intro, I do want to just say let's just be mindful and let's set intentions of what we want to achieve out of this.
Speaker 1:
What do you want to achieve out of this process, out of this reflection? Are you just wanting to learn some lessons? Are you really wanting to dive into it deeper. What is it? And maybe it might be. Maybe you don't want to dive purely over everything in your life. Maybe it's one area of your life, maybe it's in weight loss, or maybe it's in budgeting, or maybe it's in your business, or maybe it's in your career. What specific area of your life do you want to focus on in this process? Is it your career, personal growth, relationships, health, etc.
Speaker 1:
And then the other thing is going to this, with some level of deep, deeper self-awareness, and what I mean by this is, as you go through each step, be honest with yourself. Be open as possible, as openly possible, right? No one else is doing this with you. I'm doing it here, I'm talking, but I'm not going to know what you say. So be honest with yourself. And what are your true feelings about all this? What are some of the emotions that will come to play? Jot them down. If that's what we're getting into today, we're going to roll the intro and then we're going to kick off with Rose. And what does that look like? Roll the intro, rose, celebrating successes, and a prompt that I have for you all is think about the past week, the past month, the past year. In this case we're doing for the last half year. What are the highlights, what has gone well and what are you proud of Now?
Speaker 1:
For me personally, the thing that's gone really well for me is the business. I made some big changes at the start of the year. I did a big reflection from the end of last year and I knew that I had to make some big changes. I made those big changes and we've seen growth like no other this year and it's been really rewarding and I'm proud of that. I over this year and it's been really rewarding and I'm proud of that. I'm very proud of that because I've been putting in the work to make that happen, but it's still not exactly where I want it to be, which we can talk about a little bit better.
Speaker 1:
But is there something that you've achieved that initially overlooked, that you didn't think was significant? I think this is a super important one, and this has helped you to dive in or, I guess, guide you into some deeper understanding of your successes. And I think sometimes I get so worked up on the day-to-day when we need to zoom out because, though today sucks maybe, how was it a week ago? We don't know what it's going to be like tomorrow. Things will constantly change. We spoke about that in the last episode. But don't undersell the day. Progress when we do make progress, when you do get the wins on the small scale, just accomplishing the day, get everything done on your to-do list, having a meeting with someone ticking off this or achieving that these are all small wins and moments of joy which are leading us towards a bigger picture process. For me, it might be just having a bit more people tune into the podcast. That's a small win and I'm just doing it on a regular basis. Or maybe I've had the opportunity to do more in the business because something has come along the way and I took the opportunity. Don't take those things for granted. So that's Rose. Let's talk about Thorn, and this one is where it's going to get a little bit more rough.
Speaker 1:
Acknowledging the challenges. So what were some of the challenges that you had in the last six months that you've had to face? What didn't go as planned? For me, it's been running. This whole year has just been a disaster with the running. Over the last few years I've done some amazing things with running. There was one year I was doing two half marathons a month. I've done my ultra. I've done more volume than I've ever done before, but at the end of last year I just I had a bad end of the year. I had some heart issues due to some stress and anxiety, and then I had COVID and then I took a 12-week break and came back and I just have not been able to find my footing, in the sense of getting into a groove, and I've been really struggling with this because I've got goals and ambitions that I want to see and achieve this year, but they're looking less and less likely to occur. We can always change that goalpost, but it's a big difficulty that I've been struggling with.
Speaker 1:
I don't feel confident, I'm doubting myself, all those different things and I guess another guided question that we can bring into this is there a challenge that you face that you haven't fully acknowledged? Think about areas where you felt stuck or frustrated. For me, I think honestly it comes down to usually, if there's something that isn't going to plan, it's probably because I haven't done the things that I can control and I haven't put the effort in there and I've been neglecting it. That's the reality of it. That's what I get frustrated with, because I'm my own self to blame. Now, that won't always be the case, but I do encourage you to be open about this with yourself, because when you acknowledge it, when you're able to let go of it, it's going to help you move on. That's the reality of it.
Speaker 1:
Number three is BUD identifying opportunities. And the quick prompts that I have for you all is what opportunities or areas for growth did you see? What are you looking forward to or you're excited about? I think for me personally, it's just being able to see how capable and what is possible within the business, and that's not necessarily a reflection purely on me. I've got team members and I'm working different to how I was working a year ago, and that makes sense, because I can't keep doing the same thing. Otherwise, you're just going to get the same results. So I think that's what's been happening for me. I'm excited to be able to see what I can do going forward. Can I retain that? Can I grow that? How do I leverage that? All those different things?
Speaker 1:
A guided question for you is there an idea or potential opportunity that you haven't explored yet and consider areas where you feel curious or inspired? So over the last six months, has anything arisen where you think maybe there is something here that you should tap into that you've been putting off, or you're too scared to chase or pursue. What is that thing and why haven't you explored it? I think for me it's like there's a whole bunch of different things that I should be doing right, and when you finally do it and you realize this was the best thing to do in this period of time, I think for me there's been moments where I've been putting off things and I finally came back to them and I finally made the decision to execute on them, and then you realize why didn't I do this earlier? It might've been putting in a new marketing campaign on the eBay store. It might've been doubling down on listings or changing a process or ripping off a bandaid right. A lot of the time, that's what it comes down to. We are the ones that are our worst enemies when it comes to actually making these things happen. So get out of your own way.
Speaker 1:
So a couple of other things that I'll just bring up is reflecting on unrealized progress. I think a lot of the time, as we make progress whether it's good, bad or everything in between is we do need to make sure we do take a moment to think about any of the progress that maybe we've overlooked. Right, and we touched on this already but there's a lot of small things that we do on a daily basis that do contribute to those bigger results For me. I would encourage you reflect on those. What are they? What's the thing that you're doing on a daily basis or on a regular basis that's enabling this progress to happen? That's where the bread and butter sauce is is. It is doing those daily repetitions, putting in the reps, doing the work on a consistent basis. That's how you're going to see that progress over a long period of time. But don't neglect those things, don't take them for granted.
Speaker 1:
The other one is comfort in identification. Now, what does that even mean? It means this it's important to be comfortable with identifying our roses, our thorns and our buds. Maybe you went through this process and you didn't really call out anything that was positive or negative. It's super important, too, because it means we're becoming self-aware. When you can call out your flaws, when you can call out your wins, all these different things, it helps give you a level of self-compassion. It helps enable some types of journaling, but it's also super important because it helps open the door to you to have a better conversation with yourself of things that need to change. Right and that's what it's all about is, when we do reflect on these things, when we do identify what's driving what and why they're so important, we can make those changes and make them with a better focus or a better intent.
Speaker 1:
Now, the other part of this I also want to touch on is false realities. Think about areas where you might be avoiding necessary actions or playing ignorance is bliss Now, I've already mentioned this already, because we are our own worst enemies. But really, the question is what are you pretending is fine when it actually needs attention? What are you putting off? What is that thing? You know what it is. Come on and are there tasks or changes that you know you should be addressing, but you're not because you're. What are you putting off? What is that thing? You know what it is. Come on and are there tasks or changes that you know you should be addressing, but you're not because you're too lazy or whatever the reason may be. But consider taking some time and actually understand. Why are you not tackling these things? Why are you not addressing them? Why are you not bringing them to life with the attention that they need? Be honest with yourself. What are these things? Identify them and put in a plan to get them moving, and on a regular basis. Now look, if you want a bit more information on all this.
Speaker 1:
There's a few other little things that we can consider. You can think about when doing rose thorn and bud is how does this apply to your long-term vision? At what point do you need to come back and do this rose thorn bud? If you're thinking about the next 10 years, are those rose thorn buds aligning to the values and to the progress and to where you want to be in 10 years time? At the same time, after you do rose thorn bud, you do want to bring in some actionable steps. What is the thing that I can do today that's going to get me closer to my rose? What's the thing that I can do today that's going to get me further away from my thorn? And what are the things that I can do today that can tap into one of those buds?
Speaker 1:
And there's different ways that we can do this. We can reflect on patterns and find things that are working, things that aren't working, and then dive into those a little bit better. It might be seeking resources or support, getting help from others, finding people that can come in and make this happen and make your life a bit easier. Of course, it's probably going to cost. The other thing is having a level of gratitude and being mindful right.
Speaker 1:
When we have mindfulness, we're able to encompass everything of ourselves and bring into reflection of what needs to happen. When you are mindful and when you are grateful for the things that you've achieved, it means you're going to have a positive view of things, but leverage those things to think okay, this is what we've been able to achieve, I'm grateful for this, this is what works. This is how we got here. How do we now take this forward and eradicate the thorns and how do we take this forward and how do we leverage those buds or tap into those opportunities? And I think the final point is then accountability. Find a way to create accountability when it comes to these rose, thorn and buds. How are you going to stay accountable to making progress towards the success and towards the wins of the rose For the thorns who's going to keep you honest from slipping back into those thorns? And then, for buds, who's also going to keep you honest around? Hey, this could be another opportunity and bounce ideas with you. These are super key things.
Speaker 1:
Very simple exercise Rose thorn bud. You can make it as big as you want, as short as you want. For me, it's something that I usually tap into, even if I need to make a decision. That's all I've got for you today. I would encourage you Go use rose thorn bud. Let me know in the comments down. But if you enjoyed this and it resonated with you, share it with someone else. That would mean the absolute world to me. Really do appreciate you being here. You have a wonderful day. Cheers.
