The end of the year can either be one of the most relaxing times of the year or the most stressful. Sometimes it’s a little of both. At the close of the year, we often find ourselves thinking about all the things we didn’t accomplish in the current year, and how we’re going to try to accomplish them in the year ahead. Few of us take the time to reflect on the year’s happenings to evaluate our successes and the experiences to see what we’ve learned from them.
Before you start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, take some time to meditate on the year that’s gone by. Doing so will allow you to reflect on what’s important to you, and to create a meaningful plan for the New Year. Set aside some time to think about, write about, or talk about your answers to questions like:
- What were my successes?
- What did I do that I haven’t given myself credit for?
- What unrealistic expectations did I hold myself to?
- What would I do over, if given the opportunity? What lesson did I learn from this experience?
- What did I want to accomplish in 2022 that I wasn’t able to?
- What held me back?
- What am I willing to do differently?
- Who are the people I am most grateful for?
- What are the strengths and skills I am most grateful for?
- What is my best quality? How will I share this quality with more people?
Thinking through the answers to these questions will help you appreciate the year better and put you in a better position to plan for the year ahead.
The end of the year is a good time for reflection on what has been and what we’d like to create for the coming year. For most of us, we may have made ambitious goals at the start of the year, hoping to achieve all. And even though we were inspired to act at the beginning of the year, we find that as the year goes along, we get to discover that some projects are more complicated or time consuming than we might have originally planned.
So, you didn’t end up nailing everything on your wish list for the year, so what?
It’s ALL normal. What is most important is that you enjoy the journey of trying to accomplish your goals, you don’t have to worry too much about all the unfinished business in other areas.
I invite you to appreciate all the things you did and didn’t accomplish in the past year. If you accomplished nothing, then appreciate the clarity and lessons learned from your experience. You can take those lessons forward as you plan for the coming year.
However, just to help you with your reflections for the current year, here is a list of questions to consider that would help you evaluate the year properly and set you on a path for improvement in setting and achieving your goals for next year.
- Complete i.e., What can still be done before year end?
Review your projects and make a task list. This list should include things like phone calls, year-end reports, thank you cards, clerical work (filing, creating new files, replacing torn files, inactivating files, etc.), tax preparation, and outstanding bills. Why go into the New Year with things from 2022 that you can easily strike off your list of to-dos?
- Purge. What are those items/habits you should get rid of?
Is it old, broken, torn or out of date…throw it out! Look around your home and office for areas of clutter, old signs, post-it notes and anything that’s worn out or collected dust! Search your computer files and delete what you don’t use or need. Throw out old advertisements, magazines, product information, forms you no longer use or have updated, clothes you don’t wear, non-supportive habits, negative thinking, old leads that never responded to your calls, perhaps even a draining relationship! Out with the old, get yourself ready for the new!
- Reflect. Take some time to think about the events in the year, what has worked? What hasn’t worked?
Now is the perfect time to look back and appreciate all you’ve accomplished and take note of perhaps where you fell short. What challenges did you face? Did you overcome those challenges? What did you learn in the process? What can you do better than you could do before? How can you plan better for those times in the upcoming year, so you feel more proactive than reactive? You can choose to share this information with your friends and family so that you can be more accountable
- Identify. What worked well in 2022?
It’s important to assess what you have accomplished, what worked best and certainly what needs improvement. You can then choose to build on your strengths and try to do more of the things that worked. Realize that while you can choose to work on your strengths, you can only grow as strong as your weaker area allows. So, check your weaknesses too and work on them.
- Improve. What can you add, revise, or update to get you to the next level of success?
This is an important step to increase your efficiency. Is there an area you need or would like more training in? Is there something about your personal or professional appearance you need to improve on? Are there things you’ve been meaning to fix or replace but have been putting off? This is probably the perfect time for a makeover, upgrade, improvement, or replacement. Walk through your day and make note of anything that you can improve on.
- Implement. What’s left? ACTION!
It’s time to put all your effort, energy, improvements, vision, and planning to work. Include your action steps in your everyday to-do list. Block time in your calendar to work on your goals. Make sure the things you plan to work on will move you towards your goals not farther away from it. Act in a way to progress toward your desired outcome, in the end you can implement as many action steps as you can to move you toward your goals faster.
If you can reflect thoroughly on these six items, you’ll have a successful end of year evaluation and prepare better for the coming year. Remember the six action points:
- Complete
- Purge
- Reflect
- Identify
- Improve and
- Implement
Make the right moves today, you’ll be better off for it tomorrow.
If you don’t plan your life for yourself, someone or something else will plan it for you
With Love and gratitude as always, Xo!
If you’d like to get more ideas and useful goal setting and accomplishment tips, you should get a copy of my eBook. “How to Start from Zero” and discover so many other ideas you can adapt depending on your lifestyle and taste.
There are actually a lot of other secrets and ideas amongst other health tips I shared in the eBook and in very practical, relatable, and realistic terms. “How to Start from Zero” will definitely show you how to adopt healthy lifestyle habits and get rid of the bad ones faster and with greater ease than you’d expect.
You can click the link below to get a copy of the e-book for yourself.
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not your doctor while I am a health coach by profession. This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice nor does it establish any kind of medical relationship between you and me. I will not be held liable for any damage resulting from or related to your use of this information.