I’ll admit: I’m a bit of a reflection nut. For me, life seems most meaningful when – rather than just floating through tackling the day-to-day – I make time to step back and reflect on my path. While I’m not as extreme as Socrates (“the unexamined life is not worth living”), I do tend to think that an examined life is more likely to be a fulfilling life.
As a result, I love taking the week between Christmas and New Year to pause and reflect – both looking back at the past year and ahead at the coming one. Along the same lines, I’ve never been big on New Year’s Resolutions (why would I want to limit myself to something I can only do annually?!), yet it’s still a nice time to revisit my ongoing list of goals and decide what to focus on over the course of the year.
If you have a bit of down-time during the holidays, consider giving yourself the gift of reflection. Below are some prompts to get you started. (I recommend journaling on these rather than just thinking them through. The act of writing adds a bit of heft to the project, and it’s fun to go back and look at your list the following year to see what’s remained the same and what has changed.)
LOOKING BACK
- The best thing about this year…
- The worst thing about this year…
- This year I am most grateful for…
- What I would do differently this year…
- What I’m proudest of this year…
- What was most challenging this year…
- Time I wish I had spent differently…
- What brought me the most joy this year…
- One thing I’m glad I did for myself…
- One thing I’m glad I did for someone else…
- One difficult conversation I’m glad I had…
- One difficult conversation I wish I had had…
- Biggest lessons learned:
LOOKING AHEAD
- How do I want to feel this year?
- What do I want to accomplish this year?
- Who do I want to help this year?
- Who do I want to see this year?
- How do I want to spend my time this year?
- How do I NOT want to spend my time this year?
- What do I want to learn this year?
- What will I contribute to my community this year?
- What’s one thing that – if I’ve done it by Dec 31, 2018, will have made this a great year?
PLANNING
If you’re someone who isn’t content with simply reflecting and you’d like to move to action, check out this brief Ted Talk by Laura Vanderkam (one of my favorites for busy clients) and consider how you might be able to apply her points to move your reflection into action.
Regardless of how you ring it in, I hope your new year is immensely fulfilling!
INFINITE EDGE 
What a great, simple way to approach next year! I’m inspired to reflect and plan – thanks for the framework to use that makes that seem doable (and smart)! Hope your new year is amazing!