How to review your year.
As 2020 draws to a close, here's some parting words + resources for reflection.
Hi all
Happy eve before New Years Eve.
Like I’m sure many of you reading, I have no plans thanks to some of the tightest restrictions and highest volume of covid-19 cases London has seen all year.
So whilst ‘happy’ may not be the optimum word for you and you may opt for burying under the duvet and binging a TV series until things get brighter, here’s another way you may want to pass the time.
Reflecting on the year and planning for the next is a practice that can support in building more gratitude, learning and growth.
No one has had a write-off year, even if all your plans got cancelled and you still can’t make new ones, there will be ways things have changed for you internally that are worth capturing.
So I invite you to join me in solitude and reflection.
A shorter newsletter this week as I am enforcing more rest and relaxation to this period, navigating all the extra time with not much to do can make work easily fill every hour of the day.
But with big 2021 plans, I’m focused on rest for now, and nearly finished my own TV binge of Industry on BBC iPlayer which I can’t recommend highly enough for a bit of drama and look into what it takes to make it in the cut-throat career of investment banking. Hint: it’s not for the faint hearted.
A solid combo of tv and yearly reflections is the medicine we could probably all do with.
So here it goes.
How to review your year
The main piece of advice I’d give is to allow 2-3 hours, which you can do either with a very comprehensive review process, such as one of the templates below, or through using different methods and that suit you and even chunk it up over a couple of days.
Below are some of my own suggestions as well as links to year reviews I’ve seen gaining traction on the internet.
A calendar review — Splitting out each month of the year, looking back through the things you did: both what you loved and what you hated. Getting granular about your learnings and activities. You can combine this with photos from your phone to remember both work and play.
Journalling — Freehand write up of what your year has been like. Some great journal prompts to use such as “What tools am I learning to better manage uncertainty and stay flexible for 2021 and beyond?” are available in this great post by Tanya Caroll Richardson here.
Guided meditation — Listening to the right reflective questions and calming your nervous system to respond intuitively to what comes up can be really powerful. There are loads online but I’d like to plug this one from Tee at HUSTLE + hush which comes with an amazing 70 page workbook. Get your Recap + Reflect workbook and meditation here.
Year in review template — Separating your life into different sections such as work, money, spirituality etc can help you look holistically at which areas you’ve prioritised and make a plan for what should shift. This template from Ness Labs is really popular for good reason.
YearCompass - Designed to show help you uncover your own patterns and design the ideal year for yourself by learning from your mistakes, wins and defining the path to go down. Free resource here.
Would love to hear from you if you choose one of these resources about how you get on.
Keep your eyes peeled for the nexy year, as in classic new year new me spirit I’ll be planning out my goals and sharing some of the best practices around goal-setting with you on this newsletter.
Until next time, and a big thank you for your support following this newsletter journey this year. It’s been so rewarding to learn and share with you and take the content and community into the other parts of The Ask (events, 1-1 coaching and workshops). I’ve so enjoyed building this email list, working with ambitious and creative professionals and helping people identify and communicate their strengths.
So on that note, I will see you in 2021!
