As ever, with the approach of the New Year, there is talk of reflection.  Extracting the lessons-learned from the past year and using them as we look forward is a great path to continued growth.  But few are the people who will actually sit down and do it.  One reason may be that there is no owner’s manual to guide the process.  With that in mind, here are some ideas for how to go about reflecting on the year gone by so that the year ahead is as good as we can make it.

Notes and Resources:

• Prefer to read?  Here’s the full postReflecting Back on the Year Ahead – 11 Ways to Make Your Reflection Session Pay Off
• Why use pen and paper?  It gets us away from the screen, it triggers a different way of thinking, and it results in a tangible, concrete artifact we are more likely to remember. 
• Here are the domains for reflecting that Donald Latumahina suggests, along with some questions in each we can ask ourselves:
• Material
   
  • Have we been able to reduce debt, add to savings, and spend wisely?
  • What is the next career step, and how are we progressing towards it?  
  • Are we in control of our possessions, or are they in control of us?
• Spiritual
   
  • Do we feel fulfilled? Why or why not? 
  • Whatever our belief set, how well are we practicing its precepts?  
  • What about meditation or reflective reading?  
  • What would our obituary say if it only covered the past year – what reasons have we given others to say we were a good person?
• Physical
   
  • What do we do to stay healthy? 
  • How often do we exercise, and is that adequate?  
  • How could we be more active even without a formal program?  
  • Is the food we eat helping or hurting our efforts to reach fitness goals, or to lead a healthy life?  
  • Do we get enough sleep?
• Social
   
  • How would we rate the quality of our key relationships with spouse, family, and friends? 
  • What could we do to improve them?  
  • Have we made new friends in the past year?  
  • How well did we stay connected to old ones?  
  • Do all our friends look just like us, or could we stand to have a little more variety in interests, background, and culture?

Quotable: 

“Explore thyself.  Herin are demanded the eye and the nerve.”  - Henry David Thoreau

“Often, it’s not the hail-Mary pass but the slow and steady plodding that lead to our eventual success..”  - Ken Downer

“Maybe the best way to start the new year is by thanking the people who helped us get through the old one.”  - Ken Downer

Related posts: 

6 Powerful Ways Leaders Reflect, and how Reflection Makes Your Team Great

The After Action Review: A Leader’s Guide

No Car, No Phone, No Clue: 10 Life Lessons from a Treasure Hunt

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Thanks for listening, and Lead On!