Before You Celebrate the New Year, Consider Your Year in Review
Take Pen to Paper: Edition 14 - An End-Of-Year review will highlight all your worthy celebrations.
One definition of having big shoes to fill is to work hard to match a previous standard.
While usually used in reference to taking a well-liked person’s place in a job, isn’t that also what we do when we make New Year’s resolutions? Our New Year’s resolutions are the standards we set in hopes of filling bigger shoes.
Before you set new goals for a new year, put thought into the year that’s ending.
Instead of celebrating what’s to come, celebrate what you’ve done.
Complete an End-of-Year review to see what you have accomplished.
Before you say ‘No, way!’ and block out the past year for fear of revisiting all the things you didn’t accomplish, hear me out.
I just completed my first End-of-Year Review. It was illuminating. Instead of guessing my gains (and demerits) from the year, the review made them obvious.
What I thought would be demerits prompted thought-provoking questions. I wasn’t a failure. There were reasons goals weren’t accomplished. Practicing gratitude helped me focus on the positive gains of the year and recognize what I couldn’t control.
Many people read back through their journals for their End-of-Year review. But you don’t have to journal to do this. Besides the three-sentence gratitude journal I keep, I don’t have much of a record of my year. I used my calendar, photos, and memory. It took about three hours.
Briefly, your end-of-year review should include positives and negatives in all areas of your life.
My positives included: retirement, starting this newsletter, and having successful laser surgery on my retina.
My negatives included: not finding a writing niche, and inconsistency in my eating habits.
Your End-of-Year review results should have three areas. Here is a sample of mine:
Celebrations! Included in my celebrations were starting a newsletter and making journaling a habit.
Thought-provoking questions. What steps can I take to make eating healthily easier? Do I really need a writing niche?
Guide you toward goals for a new year. My End-of-Year review confirmed my thoughts on the theme I’m considering for next year. (More on that topic next week.)
I was surprised at the results of my brief End-of-Year review. Just imagine what I could come up with if I dug deeper.
After my review, I really didn’t worry about whether I had filled those big shoes I stepped into last January. I had too much to celebrate.
7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good
The change in seasons is good, even if it brings cold. The temperatures where I live range from 20F to 95F. I’m a warm-weather person at heart, so I found this article on how to dress for the cold very informative.
I’m grateful for warm clothing and a home with a roof and insulated walls. This week temperatures went down to 7F. 🌬❄We changed our Christmas Day plans to stay home and keep the dog inside.
It’s good to be flexible and have loose plans. With our holiday plans changing with the weather, it was good to be open to the possibilities.
I’m grateful for my habit of journaling gratitude. Five minutes of very well-spent time. It’s changed my focus in every aspect of life.
A quote: “Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” – Margaret J. Wheatley
Setting a new goal at any time of the year is good. I like to start on goals of improvement when they make themselves known.
I’m grateful for you, my reader. Your response is one of my celebrations of the year.
Thank you for reading!
Did you do an End-of-Year review? I would love to hear your method.
Would you like to do one? Let me know. I’ll share a link to help you.
-Susan