In business, there is a popular exercise called Start, Stop, Continue. The purpose of the exercise is to enable teams to give feedback, clarify priorities, and create agreed upon next steps. By putting all of these ideas out in the open, it’s easier to get everyone on the same page about what action needs to be taken. It’s often used at the end of project sprints or the end of a quarter to help teams self-evaluate and improve upon processes for the next project or quarter ahead.
It can also be a helpful exercise for your own self-reflection. Just like you may have used in a quarterly business review with your team, you can also use it quarterly (or even monthly) for your personal life. It can help you get clear on what’s working, what’s not, and want you want to do differently. This isn’t necessarily about achievement or success, but more about reflection and reprioritization in your life.
I find that the shift in seasons is a great time to take stock of our current state and what we might want to do differently, so this exercise is for anyone feeling the need to reflect and refocus. I’m also offering up a slight tweak to the traditional model and calling the exercise Start, Stop, Continue, + Support. I’ll explain more below.
So grab a pen & paper and let’s break down the sections:
Start:
This section is for thinking about new processes, plans, etc. to implement going forward. What’s something that would improve your current situation that you’re not doing today? What do you want to commit to start doing this month?
For example, my schedule has gotten busier lately and I don’t always have time to cook. In the evenings, I find myself starving in front of an empty fridge, which results in more snacking and eating less intentionally. So this month, I decided that when I do cook, I am going to make larger batches of recipes and freeze individual portions so that I have meals I can quickly grab on the evenings when I don’t have time to cook.
Stop:
This is the space to reflect on what’s not working particularly well at the moment. What do you need to stop doing or do less of? What’s weighing you down that needs to be shed? What’s getting in your way of reaching your goal or desired state?
For example, recently I’ve been having trouble falling asleep as quickly as I normally do. Part of that has to do with the fact that I’m having too much screen time right before bed (which affects sleep quality). So for my “stop” portion of this exercise, I’m going to stop watching TV right before bed. I know I function better during the day when I get good sleep, so I want to stop habits that are negatively impact on my sleep.
Continue:
This section is to help you determine what you’ve already been doing that you want to continue. What’s working right now that you want to make sure you keep doing moving forward?
For example, maybe you want to continue taking the lunchtime yoga class on Fridays that you started over the summer. You’ve noticed that it has positively impacted your ability to wrap up your work week and disconnect for the weekend, so you want to keep it as part of your weekly routine.
Support:
When you do this exercise in a team setting, it’s easy to create an action plan with deadlines and accountability. But when you do this on your own, there isn’t exactly the same structure, which is why I’ve added “Support” as the final component to this exercise.
Now that you’ve determined what you want to start, stop, and continue, what support do you need to follow through on this?
For example, for my plan to start freezing meals, I spoke with a friend who is also trying to do the same thing. I’ve started sending her photos when I add a new meal to my freezer and we’ve started sharing recipes so we both feel more inspired to cook.
For the yoga class example, you could do something like create a recurring event on your work calendar for those Friday yoga classes so no one can book over that time block.
Regardless of what it looks like, it’s important to put the right support structures in place in order to help you implement what you came up with in this exercise. It’s all about figuring out what support you need to follow through.
Remember, the things you decide to Start, Stop, and Continue don’t need to be groundbreaking. The idea is to determine small actions you can take to make incremental change in your life. They could be around work, wellness, finance, relationships, or whatever areas of your life feel important to make shifts in. My suggestion is to pick one area to start, try out the exercise, see how it goes, and then use it again for another area if you’d like.
As always, I’m here to support you!
Be well,
Carolyn
Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash