Before the New Year’s Resolution, Do End-of-Year Reflection
We are approximately three weeks before the end of the year and we all know, the New Year’s Resolution juices are starting to flow. Before you lock and load on your 2022 resolution, I invite you to do an end-of-year reflection.
I have used a few different frameworks and I will share what has worked for me. Ultimately, I am a strong believer that one should build on what works versus trying to fix what just does not!
I am done trying to lose those 15 pounds or go to the gym five times a week. If I am lucky, I get the time to take my dog out for a walk once a day, and that is considered a big win!
Committing to doing things that we, in our heart of hearts know doesn’t work for us, no matter how badly we “should” be doing those things is a recipe for disappointment.
On the other hand, doing an honest and judgment-free end-of-the-year reflection, helps us recognize and celebrate our wins. In my opinion, carrying our wins into 2022 should form the basis of everyone’s new year resolution.
So let’s dive into a methodology for doing an end-of-the-year reflection.
1. Create a harmony circle
Draw a circle and divide it into three to eight sections; each section representing an area that is important to you. These eight domains are what I deem as important to me.
2. Let’s assess
On the scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the highest and the very best, how would you rate your 2021? A rating of 5 would be average, any rating over 8 would be considered great and any rating below 4 is considered, well, not good. Let’s dig in. Mine looks like this:
As you can see, some of my domains of importance are healthy and thriving and others are lacking. That is okay, again, this is a judgment-free approach.
3. Take note of the high scores
List anything that you have rated 7 or above and answer the following questions:
- Why did you rate the element the way you did?
- What was YOUR ROLE in 2021 for this particular domain to score as high as it did?
- What are the greatest insights that you have gained about this area in 2021?
Here are my results. I will just list one of the four areas that scored the highest and will do the exercise to illustrate the point.
Career – Score: 8
I scored it 8 because Call Emmy is thriving and my vision of 2021 is definitely realized. What I did to enable this score was the following:
- I never gave up even if there were days that I really wanted to
- I brought in help when I realized that I couldn’t manage the business alone
- I said goodbye to my ego and listened to all perspectives and acted on many of the advice I got from people I respected
- I hustled every single day
My greatest insight is this: don’t give up on your vision but stay flexible. Be ready to pivot/change directions many times.
4. Take note of the low scores
List anything that you have rated 4 or below and answer the following questions:
- Why did you rate the element the way you did?
- What was YOUR ROLE in 2021 for this particular domain to score as it did?
- What are the greatest insights that you have gained about this area in 2021?
I will dig into one of the areas again:
Personal Growth – Score: 4
I rated personal growth 4 because I don’t believe I have grown all that much, intellectually or even emotionally. My role: I find myself distracted, short-tempered, and impatient. I have participated in workshops and webinars but I don’t seem to be able to stay present.
I am simply moving from one activity to another without any pause in the middle. My greatest insight is this: I either need to deprioritize something else (career, family, friendship) in order to make time for myself and my growth or just be okay with a score of 4.
Did you see what just happened? A potential tradeoff manifested and now, the question is if I want to make that tradeoff as a new year’s resolution for 2022.
5. Time to come up with your new year’s resolution
Let’s have three things you commit to, based on how you did in 2021.
- What will you keep doing?
- What will you start doing?
- What will you stop doing?
For me, I will keep hustling, working hard to build and expand Call Emmy. I will stop signing up for webinars, courses, workshops unless they are absolutely necessary. Doing so will enable me to find time to pause, reflect, and be focused. I will start 2022 grounded in my resolve to continue to build and expand Call Emmy and will prioritize myself and my family above all else. That is my new year’s resolution.
I feel good about my new year’s resolution because I believe in it and it feels right. I am going to be carrying the 15 extra pounds for yet another year, indulge in late-night snacking, and be okay with missing PTAs and parents’ coffee dates. Next year, when I do my end-of-the-year-reflection, I aim to keep my high scores as they are now (career: 8, family: 8, health: 8, friendship: 7) and have an above-average score for my Personal Growth (I would be happy with a 6).
Closing Thoughts about End-of-Year Reflection
In closing, I highly recommend doing this objective assessment of your 2021. So many times we mentally and emotionally commit to things that we have a very little chance of success in.
You saw my finance score was 4 and yes, I would love to go back to 7 or 8 but I know that doing so would mean giving up on this business and I am not willing to do that. New year resolutions like most things in life are about prioritizing what is important and often at the expense of something else that might be equally important.
I would love to know what the results of your assessment were and how that informed you to arrive at your new year resolution. Write in the comments how you performed your end-of-year reflection and what insights you gained.
Lastly, here are a couple of blog posts that you may want to read –