4 questions to ask yourself when reflecting on your year
Posted by Adam Jelic on
It's that time of year again - Christmas is hurtling towards us and in between the frantic present shopping we're all starting to reflect on the last 12 months.
For many of us 2022 has continued to throw curveballs; new COVID waves, interest rate hikes, social and political unrest and personal struggles. For others, it’s been a time of growth, self exploration, redefining success and pursuing new opportunities. Regardless of how you may have experienced this year, taking time to reflect is a helpful and healthy way to say CYA 👋🏼 to the year and prepare for what's to come. At MiGOALS we suggest asking four key questions as part of your end of year reflection.
What progress have I made towards my goals?
One of the first things to do is to take stock of progress you’ve made towards your goals. What goals did you set for yourself at the start of the year, and how far have you come?
If you’ve fallen short, think about why that might be the case. Perhaps you were distracted by urgent tasks that didn’t actually move the needle? Maybe you were overly ambitious and set goals that were a little too difficult to achieve? Maybe you weren’t energised by certain goals and didn’t feel motivated to work on them?
Whatever the case may be, reflection can help you to identify areas for improvement and make a plan for how you’ll do better next year.
What wins and successes have I had?
It’s absolutely critical to celebrate your wins and successes! This is the perfect opportunity to look back through your MiGOALS diary and identify the things that you nailed over the course of the year. Maybe you landed a new job or completed your first marathon, or perhaps you had some smaller wins like finishing a complex project or having a tough conversation with your boss.
By focusing on your wins, you’ll remind yourself of all of the epic things you’ve done and give yourself a boost of confidence. This exercise helps to put things into perspective, and reminds you that even when you face hard times, you’re capable of achieving great things.
What lessons have I learned?
Think about all the challenges and down times you faced this year, and more importantly, the lessons you learned throughout the process. Perhaps you learnt how to handle difficult people, how to stay focused when you’re feeling overwhelmed, or how to stay true to your values. Perhaps you learnt a new skill, or learnt that you don’t enjoy certain tasks. This exercise brings the lessons you’ve learned to the front of your mind, so you can take them with you into the future.
How have my strengths and capabilities evolved?
Finally, it's a solid idea to reflect on your strengths and capabilities and how they’ve changed over the course of the year. What are you naturally good at and where do you excel? What skills and capabilities have you built or developed, and how can you continue leveraging these next year? Knowing what you’re good at and doubling down on these areas will help you build confidence, gain momentum and make progress towards your goals.
Our hot tip: enjoy this process! It’s not often we give ourselves the gift of time to sit back and reflect on what we’ve achieved and learned. Think of the 1 or 2 hours it’ll take to complete this exercise as an investment in your future, because doing means you’re setting up for big things in 2023.