On one hand, it’s silly to pick a specific month to reflect on the past year and plan for the year ahead. I mean, time is circular, nonstop, and never-ending. You could choose any moment of the year to reflect and plan… but there is something about December that really seems to work for people.
Personally, I like that it feels tied to the seasons. There is something about the flora dying, becoming mulch, and being used to grow next year’s plants, flowers, grass, and trees that is an easy metaphor for me.
So today, let’s talk about reflection. Next week, we’ll get into planning.
We are in the final month of 2024, and a busy year it has been! Major wars in Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, and Myanmar. A new (and, dare I say, controversial) president was elected here in the US. The summer Olympics in Paris, P Diddy, Hurricane Helene, AI, and more.
Not to mention what’s been happening in your life. Yeah, you!
Likely, you’ve been a part of or witnessed weddings, births, or the loss of people you loved. Maybe your car died, or you bought a new one. Maybe you sold your house and moved or took a new job in a different city. Maybe you got in shape and started some new habits that are making life a little richer. Or maybe you’ve slipped in some areas and are hoping that January 1st is the end of your slip and the beginning of a new life.
Whatever the case, if you’ve been awake, you’ve certainly seen a lot this year. Felt a lot. Experienced a lot. And it is, in fact, a LOT!
Fortunately we get to live this life one day at a time so we can digest all this stuff slowly, as it happens, and over time.
But as we watch the leaves hit the ground, decay, and turn to sustenance for next year’s lawns and flower beds, we can be intentional about taking this time to let go of our own past. To let those memories and experiences decay and feed us in the coming year.
The opportunity to do some annual reflection can be really fun and incredibly insightful in a way that lets you live the next year better than the last!
So, How Do We Get Started?
Well, there are unlimited approaches to reflecting on the past year of your life. I think it’s helpful to begin by stealing other people’s approaches and then, over time, adapt them to your own personal style. Find what works for you.
Here is what works for me: I like to start by going back through my calendars. My wife and I have a big shared paper calendar in the house where we post our travel and other schedules that need sharing.
I also use Google Calendar for my daily work schedules and appointments. NOTE: One key to making this MUCH easier is to color-code your Google calendar. Clients get pink, workouts are bright red, classes are yellow, blocked focus time is green, etc. Otherwise, you’re looking at a sea of blue calendar appointments that are hard to tease apart.
Month by month, I’ll review where I’ve traveled, who I worked with, coffee dates, calls with friends, workouts, hockey games, writing retreats, meditation retreats, etc. You get the picture.
In reviewing these weeks and months, I’m often reminded of something major that happened. Some insight or experience that I’d forgotten about. Seeing these things again can get me excited about doing something similar in the future OR help me think about how I might want to do it differently next year.
Then I start asking myself questions:
- Did I travel as much as I wanted to? Or was it too much?
- Did I prioritize my health and workouts?
- Did I get a fair amount of solo time or take some big breaks from technology?
- Did I see my family as much as I’d like?
- Was my method for blocking out creative time on my calendar effective? Should I change that up?
You get the drift. Come up with your own questions as you review your calendars to see what insights emerge.
I use pen and paper to make notes as I’m reviewing these calendars. Things like “Sign up for next year’s New Mexico retreat” or “Make space in March to edit the new novel.” I use last year as a way of planning next year. I want to make sure I don’t repeat some of the mistakes I’ve made in years past. I want to make sure there’s enough time to write, enough time with my wife, and enough time in the woods by myself, to name a few.
I like to block these things off early. Before the momentum of work and life take over my calendar and make it tricky to find large chunks of time to do the things that REALLY matter to me.
As I review my 2024 calendar, I can see that I was busy with school for my PCC Certification. But since I’ve completed those classes, I have freed up a lot of time! What do I want to do with this new abundance of time?
Well, my big projects for the upcoming year are:
- Finish a new novel
- Find a literary agent
- Sit two 7-10 day silent meditation retreats
- Take two longer (2 week+) trips with Eva
- Open up coaching practice to 5 more clients
- Grow this newsletter to 5K subscribers
I know I said this post was about reflection, but it’s hard not to blend reflection and planning. As I’m reviewing last year, I can’t help but think about the year ahead. Also, all of these projects that I want to make space for are direct results of my reflection on 2024.
For instance:
- I finished my last novel, so naturally, I’m ready to work on a new one, AND I’m querying agents to seek publishing.
- I only sat on one meditation retreat this past year and felt something missing. I’ve sat two retreats in previous years and that feels right for me.
- Eva and I took some shorter trips this year which were fun, but I’m craving longer periods of time away with her.
- I worked with around 7-10 clients at any given time in 2024 and easily felt like I could take on more without getting obsessed with work or giving up time for writing.
- Moving away from posting videos and written content five times a week to posting one newsletter a week has been rewarding so far and I want to go deeper with it.
As you can see, all of my larger goals for 2025 are directly influenced by 2024 and my reflection time. Each of these future goals has further details and nuances, but I won’t bore you with them today. I’ll write more about them in the next post, which will be more specifically about planning for next year.
The last thing that I personally like to see in my calendar is a lot of white space. I tend to over-schedule myself, and not only does that NOT make me happy, but I am actually less productive and less effective. This is counterintuitive, I know. But I find that I’m a better husband, friend, AA sponsor, coach, writer, athlete, son, and brother when I’m not cramming my calendar to the gills with busy work.
I pick and choose much more carefully these days. I say “no thanks” to more than ever before. I guard my alone/quiet time. I try to give more than I take. And that is what makes me the happiest. That is white space.
OK, hopefully, this feels like a good jumping-off point for you to do your own reflection on last year. I feel like I could write about this for days, but the more important thing is just to sit down and do it. My hunch is that once you get started, it will flow easily, and you will find joy in the process.
I’d genuinely love to hear from you in the comments! What, if anything, do you do to reflect on the previous year? Does it inform your goals and intentions for next year? I know that I’ve got some super smart people on this list, so please leave your tips and tricks for other readers so we can all learn and grow from your experience!