#133: Glin & Tonic - The Power of Reviewing Your Tape for Personal Growth

What would you discover if you 'reviewed your tape'?

When it comes to professional athletes or sports teams, it's expected that they have coaches to mirror back observations and guide them towards a path to mastery. It's also expected that athletes, if they are serious about getting better, will be reviewing tapes of their performances and uncovering areas for growth and mastery.

But for some reason, while the logic for athletes is widely understood, we don’t seem to translate the act of 'reviewing our tapes' in our day-to-day lives and work.

This review, most might assume, flags the gaps—and while that is certainly part of it—the richer part of the review is the gains being made and the opportunity to reframe the past as a catalyst for growth.

For the last three months, I’ve been reviewing my own tape twice a week. I’ve been reflecting on self-review questions and writing the answers each week to help me gain clarity.

Writing is my mirror. It shows me what’s inside—my thoughts, my judgments, my fears. Sometimes, I don’t like what I see. But it also shows me where I’m holding myself back and where the opportunities lie.

I’ve realised that writing is more than a creative exercise; it’s a tool for transformation. It lets me take the messy, swirling thoughts in my mind and put them into words I can see, reflect on, and reframe.

This is why I keep coming back to the page. Even when it’s hard. Even when I feel like I have nothing to say. Because every time I write, I find another piece of the puzzle. Another dot waiting to connect.

Reviewing our own tapes is the step that most people will miss or avoid entirely. Of course, it's easier to sit with the comfort of false progress by staying busy—it seems like you're moving forward, but in truth, you're often in the noise of the day, week, or month, and unlikely to be isolating the signal for where you need to focus.

In the last three months, here's what I've transformed:

1. My Sense of Self – Through practising greater psychological flexibility, I’ve surrendered my attachment to my identity and the need to be seen a certain way. This has given me the freedom to embrace all of myself and close the gap between how I appear to others and who I truly am. This psychological flexibility has also allowed me to focus on what truly lights me up—transforming individuals and businesses—without attaching myself to the judgment of society or what the 'optics' of professional and personal identity should look like.
    

2. My Self-Honesty – We often think it's hard to be honest with others, but I've found being honest with myself the hardest. I've seen how much the 'good girl' in me has wanted to people-please, and how giving value to others has sometimes come at the detriment of my own needs. On planes, we're told to put our own oxygen masks on first, but society often projects that we need to give to others before we give to ourselves. That in some way, choosing to meet our own needs first is selfish. It’s not—it's called self-care. We can't help others unless we can first help ourselves.

    

3. My Gifts – The reviews of my weekly tapes have shown me more clearly how my gifts and talents are being received by others. Since I stopped trying to be what I thought others needed me to be and embraced all of myself, I’ve noticed how I’ve attracted more work with my tribe of people—those who are energised by huge, seemingly impossible goals and recognise the value of taking a holistic approach to value creation and personal and business transformation.

As I’ve reflected on these transformations, I’ve realised that the process of looking back isn’t just about acknowledging where we’ve changed—it’s about understanding why those changes matter, and how they shape the path forward. It’s through this deeper review of our own journey that we can identify the next step in our evolution.

So, I invite you to pause and ask yourself: What would reviewing your tape reveal for you? What insights might emerge if you took the time to reflect on your progress and growth?

Here are some questions for you to ponder:

1. Where were you at this time Q4 in 2023? 

2. What has changed in your perspective? (the way you see the world)

3. What has changed in your focus? (what you give attention and energy to)

4. How have you raised your minimum standard? (what are you saying yes and no to)

5. What is the most important progress/growth you've had in 2024? 

Looking forward

1. What one goal will make the biggest difference—committing to it will advance you toward your desired future self in 2025?

Until next week, Merry Christmas! Keep going and keep growing.

Love Glin x

💛

P.S. Three wins from my week:

1. Client Win: I signed a new strategic coaching client this week for a 6-month program to help them scale their business through effective negotiation and communication. He found me through hearing me on a podcast and then reading my Negotiation Playbook. He said he chose me because of the holistic approach I take. It blows my mind how much the universe is showing me that it’s safe for me to be who I am, especially after years of corporate conditioning that told me otherwise.

2. Book Sales: I sold eleven signed copies of my book at a Christmas party this week! Yay! It feels great to see the number of boxes of books in the spare room go down, knowing that the books are going to good homes and hopefully transforming the businesses and results of those who read it.

3. OoO: Putting an out-of-office message on! As a recovering workaholic, this is a huge win. Two weeks to spend time with John and Noah and enjoy a mini vacation to Hervey Bay. Very exciting!