Spring is the perfect time of year for a firm retreat. Some firms pack everyone up and travel to a beautiful, quiet spot somewhere to discuss the future of the firm. They bring in a great management consultant, do team-building exercises, and leave the retreat with a fresh perspective and a common purpose.

If you’re a very small firm, especially if you’re all by yourself, you’re probably not going on a retreat.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t renew your perspective and get focused on your purpose.

I suggest you take a few hours and find a quiet spot. Bring a printed copy of this article along with a pad and pen. (Don’t bring your laptop because you’ll just end up browsing Facebook.)

Work through the following list by providing a report on each major area of your life. The overall question you’re answering is “How am I doing in each particular area of my life right now?”

First, write a paragraph on each area describing your current satisfaction with that area. Second, rate each area on a scale of one to ten. One means it is down in the dumps and couldn’t be much worse. Ten means it is about as good as you can possibly imagine.

Here’s the list:

1.Work. That’s your career, your job, and your business.

2.Financial. Your income, savings, investments, assets, and debt (if any).

3.Relationship. Whatever intimate relationship you happen to have or want to have.

4.Home and family. Your home life and relationship with other family members.

5.Physical health. Diet and exercise habits, staying free of disease, and especially your overall energy level.

6.Mental. Your knowledge, education, talents, and skills. Are you learning new ideas and developing your talents?

7.Social. Your friends, your social experiences, networking with other people, and belonging to clubs and organizations.

8.Emotional. How do you generally feel about your life: positive and optimistic, or negative and pessimistic? Are you paying enough attention to the warning signs of negative emotions?

9.Spiritual. This encompasses your religious beliefs and philosophy of life, which include your sense of purpose and your overall level of clarity as to your existence and your place in the universe.

10.Character. How strong is your sense of integrity, honesty, courage, compassion, level of self-discipline, and sense of honor?

11.Contribution. Are you giving something of value to the world?  Do you feel that you are making a difference with your life?

12.Fun and adventure.  Are you enjoying your life?  Are you experiencing what you want to experience?

Push on your responses. Be sure you’re being honest with yourself. The pushing is missing from our private retreat. We don’t have our peers and a management consultant there to prod us to be honest. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves because we really want to take it to the next level.

Once you’ve written your report and done your ratings, you’re going to have some clarity about where you stand. My hope is that you’ll also have a sense of where you want to go. You might find yourself wanting to improve an area that’s suffering, or you might want to build on your strengths. It doesn’t make much difference what you do so long as you’re working to move in the direction that matters to you. The purpose of the exercise is to gain clarity about the direction you wish to pursue.

The time we take for ourselves clarifying and organizing is essential if we want to improve and grow. Answering these 12 questions will give you the focus you need to do what you want and need to do.

[ While I have you here, I wanted to remind you that you can get the latest articles delivered to your inbox a week before they go up on the web. Just one email per week. Sign up here. ]