Successes and Failures: Reflecting on the past year.
This time of year, I am deep in reflection and planning. I have always been a big fan of both and I love the end of the year process. I love sitting down and reviewing the previous year. What went well? What did not go so well? What am I excited about moving into the new year and what am I happy to leave behind?
I have used a variety of systems and processes for this, but the one I find the most helpful is just a simple stream of consciousness list.
I put a large sheet of flip chart paper on my wall and just start listing things that have gone well on one side and things I want to do differently or didn’t love on the other. It's a great exercise to do on your own, or with your family.
My kids and I make a list each year with what we loved about the year that is ending and what we want to do or be in the new year. It's a great exercise in gratitude, intention and memorializing.
It is also the perfect time to look ahead and start the year off with intention. I revisit and refine this process throughout the year, but here are a few processes that I am doing to be ready to enter the new year.
I have a list of anxiety-inducing or very hateable tasks that I have put off this year. I am doing an Avoidant Advent inspired by a TikTok creator. One task and one corresponding treat per day. Let’s do this!
I spent a lot of time in 2024 journaling, researching, soul searching and honing in on my core values. I am finishing off the year continuing to meditate on them and carrying them into the new year. I have chosen one overarching value to emulate and explore all year and then divided the other 4 into quarterly explorations in 2025.
We are holding our next staff retreat the first week in January so I will pose all of these questions to our team in a few different brainstorming sessions so that our 2024 review and 2025 intentions have buy in from the whole team
A lot of the areas that feel like failures in 2024 come from a lack of direction and lack of intention. I am looking at each area to see how I can intentionally make choices in 2025 that will resolve these areas as much as I have the power to do so.
Other areas where I feel like a failure are not all in my control. And today in therapy, my therapist gave me permission to just hold space for these feelings and to rest and to not immediately gather the troops and press forward. So I am ending the year giving myself grace and space and I already feel excitement and anticipation for the next step.
So, however you do it, I hope you take some time to reflect on this year as it closes and that you head into the new year with purpose and intention and grace!
