This is THE most important thing I want to do before Christmas. (Yes, before all the Christmas shopping and festivities kick in! :-)

For me, this is not just some kind of business To-Do, I do that to reflect on both my personal life and work, most importantly, I keep it pretty simple and fun! 

What I have learned is that if I take an inventory of what happened this year and really look deep at some of my lowest moments, I rarely make the same mistakes again. 

The more I count my blessings and appreciate the good things in my life, there are more to appreciate and to be grateful for. It feels good and keeps me grounded. 

I remind myself of what really matters to my heart. 

I let go of things or people that no longer align with my values and beliefs. 

This year has gone by so fast if I don’t do this, I will feel the year has gone past me like a dream, and I haven’t really truly live through it. When I do my review, I savour and relive a lot of good memories. 

So here is how I do this: 

I craft out some time to be alone, undisturbed. No phone, no emails, no kids. 

I think about the following and write the answers down in a notebook:

1.) My Top 3 Personal Highlights and 3 Business Highlights 2.) The Lowlights - where I didn’t feel I handled the situation well or simply making a mistake or being treated in a way that is not OK. More importantly, what is Message from the Mess (I got this phrase from Mel Robbins - Love It!) 

3.)What is the one single habit I can try to make next year better? (e.g. wake up 30 mins earlier to work out? Take 10 mins during the afternoon to pause? Have my vitamins with my brekkie? Don’t check email before 10 am?) 

Then, moving to next year: 

4.) What are my strategic goals and top 3 results I want for next year? 

5.)What is required for me to get there? (What I need to start doing, stop doing or learn or acquire?)

6.) What may be the catalyst for that to happen? ( Get a business partner? Sign up to a gym? Subscribe to an organic produce delivery service? Get a virtual assistant? Focus on my 80/20 rule?) 

7.) I then look at my 12 months yearly planner, and for each quarter, what is my main Personal and Business Focus? I limited to a maximum of 3 things in each quarter and sometimes, 1 is more than enough. (e.g. I am having my second baby in late May, and so for Q2 April May June, my sole focus is nurturing myself and the newborn. And that is PLENTY to focus on!) 

8.) Once I have done the BIG ROCKS for each quarter, I will add several key components under each. Just to have a rough idea of how big is each of these projects. However, I am not doing my detail breakdown just yet, I just want to get a big picture at this point. 

And that’s kind of IT!  :-)

There are 2 extra things I am adding to this practice. 

* Once I have done my review and planning, I am going to share and discuss it with my husband, especially about some of the personal goals and plans for next year. See, we parent our kids together and we are a team, I think it is so important to communicate our goals and concerns in advance and see what we solutions or preparation we can come up beforehand. 

* I am talking to a handful of people who know me and my business well and I want to brainstorm with them about some of the products/services and events that I am thinking to c...