Many people are required to do an end-of-year review at work, but personal end-of-year reviews are not as common as they should be. Spending just a couple of hours allows you to celebrate your wins in the previous year and helps you refocus to reach your goals next year.
A personal end-of-year review will start by reflecting on the previous year. You will use the reflection of the previous year to create a plan for success next year.
Personal End-of-Year Review
The end of the year is always a very busy time so it can be difficult to set aside any extra time, but it will be worth it. Following these simple steps will help you stay organized and efficient in this review.
1. Set a time to do the review
2. Reflect on the year as a whole
3. Find the why behind the positives and negatives of last year
4. Organize the “why” into specific habits
5. Determine outcomes/goals that stem from the habits
Why should you do a personal end-of-year review?
Simply put, it will push you to decide if the path you’re on is right for you. If you decide that your current path does not align with your goals, you have the opportunity to redirect toward your goals. On a typical day, it is easy to go through the motions and continue your daily habits. While it may seem like it’s just one day, each day compounds and really determines the trajectory of your life.
In addition to making sure you’re on the path you want to be on, an end-of-year review allows you to acknowledge how far you’ve come. Sometimes when change is gradual it’s hard to see improvement daily. When you allow yourself to look back on improvements made over an entire year, you will see much greater progress. This improvement should be celebrated and can also be used as a basis to make reasonable goals for the upcoming year.
A yearly review can also help keep you accountable for the following year. Knowing that you will be taking the time to reflect on and celebrate the previous year may help you stay more focused on the habits you are trying to nail down throughout the year. Each year you do a review is beneficial, but making this an annual event will give you the most impactful results. By doing a review year after year, you can reflect on things you’ve written in previous years as well.
How to do a personal end-of-year review?
Step 1: Set a time to do the review
With a busy schedule, it can be challenging to find a block of free time, so that’s why you should try to schedule time to do it all at once. You should try to dedicate 2-3 hours for the review. You can absolutely modify it and make it shorter, but you should try to make this a priority.
Doing a thorough review of last year and planning for the next year will have incredible benefits and will be worth spending a little extra time on.
If you have a family, maybe try making this into a date night with your spouse. Find a night for just the two of you, make dinner or order in, and spend the evening going over your yearly review.
To make this process as simple as possible, I suggest creating sections on your paper. As shown in the image below, your responses to Step 3 will go in the top section, responses to Step 4 in the bottom left column, and responses to Step 5 and Step 6 in the bottom middle and left columns.
*Be sure to leave extra space between each response in Step 4.
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Step 2: Reflect on the year as a whole
This means answering broad questions like the following:
- What went well?
- What didn’t go well?
For more questions to ponder as you reflect, take a look at this article.
Step 3: Find the “why” behind the positives and negatives of last year
From the responses of step one, go a step further and ask yourself why:
- What was I doing last year that contributed to those successes or downfalls?
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Step 4: Organize the “why” into specific habits
Next, try to extract any lessons learned. Try to come up with both positive and negative lessons learned. Using those lessons, think about what actions can be taken to continue the positive outcomes and change the negative outcomes.
- What is a daily habit that has contributed to the successes or downfalls?
- For example, maybe you gained muscle in the last year because you were going to the gym consistently. This should be a habit that you should continue to prioritize.
- Take a look at this article for some positive daily habits to start.
Step 5: Determine outcomes/goals that stem from the habits
Using the list of positive and negative habits that you’ve compiled, think about your goals for next year. To start, think about what the outcome will be from your habits.
For example, if one habit you have is to start following a budget after a year you will have spent less money. This can satisfy the goal of saving money or paying off debt.
With each of your habits, think about what the outcome may be, and what goal will be satisfied. To learn more about how your habits will compound into big changes, take a look at this article.
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Step 6: Consider any other goals you have for the upcoming year
Now think about any other goals you have for the upcoming year. If they are not currently on your list of positive or negative habits, add a habit that will result in reaching or at least making progress on this goal.
Step 7: Prioritize and plan for next year
Next, prioritize. Look at your list of outcomes/goals and choose which ones mean the most to you. This will make it clear which habits are most important to prioritize over the next year. Write a number next to each goal that signifies its priority. Consider how many of the corresponding habits will be realistic to consistently do next year.
Please reach out to ourteam@wellroundedyou.com or comment below with any questions. Thanks for reading and happy new year!
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