Look Back, Look Forward, Look Around - a Year End Review
What have you accomplished over the past twelve months? What are you most proud of? What do you hope to achieve in the coming year? What are you grateful for in your life?These are all good questions to ask yourself as we begin to wind down another year. I have written in the past about the value of reflecting on each day, I see tremendous value in completing this exercise, in a little more depth for the end of the year. Taking time to ask yourself good questions, be honest about where you at, and dream ahead can be a rewarding and productive experience.
Set Aside a Specific Time
In order to reflect on an entire year’s worth of activities, you will need to plan and dedicate time to doing so. Create quiet and uninterrupted time for you to look back over the past year. Take as much time as you need, but plan for at least 45 - 60 minutes to complete the entire exercise.
Look Back, Look Forward, and Look Around
Make notes and jot down the things that stand out the most as accomplishments. This would be an excellent opportunity to capture any stories and or other details that may have occurred at the same time. You never know when that could come in handy later when you look back at your memories. One advantage to using a digital method of capturing your notes and thoughts is the opportunity to include any pictures from those events throughout the year. It is always fun to look back and not only remember the achievement but see them as well.Once you have captured your thoughts regarding the past year, set your sights forward and think about what you would like to do in the coming 52 weeks. Pretend you are doing this exercise again in a year, and consider what would you want to remember as accomplishments. These can be related to goals you have already set for yourself or they can be other aspects of your life. Don’t limit yourself in this exercise. Think of this more as a possibilities brain-storm. If you haven’t already completed a goal-setting exercise for yourself, this may be a good way to gather ideas for that. Have fun with this and look at all areas of your life. What do you want to accomplish with friends and family? How do you want to improve yourself personally? What would it mean to achieve certain things professionally?Finally, look all around you. Who are the people in your lives that help to make your success possible? What are you most grateful for from this past year? These could be people, opportunities that presented themselves, failures that taught valuable lessons, changes in position, or places you visited. Again, no limitations and this is another chance to include pictures to help support the experiences or people that bring you joy in your life.Ultimately, this is a short exercise that can help bring closure to the year almost behind us and shed light on the future for what can be. The benefits of gratitude are many. If you lead a team, encourage them to complete the same exercise so they can experience the same boosts in energy you will. Most importantly, take time to celebrate your hard work, the dreams accomplished and those yet unfulfilled, and the people, experiences and opportunities that you are most thankful for.What are some of your best stories from the past year? Click here or on the comments button above to share your thoughts.