As 2023 comes to an end, it’s time to start reflecting on your year, but how?
Here are seven ways to reflect on 2023!
1. Take Your Time
A productive reflection session on an entire year can not be done in an hour, or even in one day. It’s important to take your time – you may wake up the next day and think of something that didn’t strike you initially!
Don’t think of this exercise as a chore or a task. Rather, approach reflection whole heartedly, and focus on how you can move the needle forward in all important aspects of your life.
2. Review Your Goals
When you think of the new year, you might think of new year resolutions. New year resolutions are nothing but goals that we set at the beginning of the year.
Ideally, we should be setting goals in all aspects of our lives. Businesses, for example, set goals and revisit them each quarter.
What about you? Did you set any goals at the beginning of this year? If at all, how often were you revisiting them?
Which goals did you accomplish? What worked?
Which goals were you unable to accomplish? Why not?
3. Assess Learning
You have skills. Some natural and others acquired through hard work and effort.
You may have come across the phrase, “sharpen the saw”.
Sharpening the saw refers to strengthening your skill set. As important as it is to build on your strong skills, it’s equally as important to strengthen your weaknesses by learning and education.
Did you invest time in sharpening the saw this year?
What are your strong skills and how did you sharpen them?
What are your weaknesses and how did you attempt to strengthen them?
Did you learn anything new (e.g. playing an instrument)?
Were any of the goals you set at the onset of this year dedicated to learning?
4. Practice Gratitude
It’s healthy to want more in life. The will to want more builds a strong drive to work hard and achieve success.
The beauty of hard work is that with persistence it eventually leads to success.
However, sometimes we’re so focused on wanting more that we tend to overlook what we have.
During my gratitude sessions, I like to focus on a fresh, clean glass of water. I realize there are people around the world for whom clean water is a luxury. I realize there are people who need to travel miles every single day to collect water which then gets used by the entire household for cooking, cleaning and drinking.
I’m very grateful that I have access to clean water at any given time. I also realize that with this comfort comes responsibility. I am responsible to give back, to help those in need.
What are some of the things for which you are grateful?
Did you practice gratitude at all this year? If yes, how often?
5. Evaluate Your Relationships
The people whom we constantly interact with have an impact and shape our life.
Reflect on the people in your life. Are any of your relationships healthy? How so?
Do any of your relationships help you become better in any aspect of your life?
Are you clinging to negative, toxic people in your life? Why?
Are you a people pleaser – do you feel like you have to please everyone?
6. Practice Self-Care
Mental health has climbed the ranks over the years, especially after the COVID pandemic.
One of the best ways to keep our mental health in check is by practicing self-care.
Self-care refers to prioritizing your own needs and taking proactive steps to nurture yourself.
Some self-care activities are exercise, diet, sleep, routine health check-ups, personal hygiene, counseling, and stress management…to name a few.
Did you prioritize self-care and well-being? How so?
Do you have any hobbies? If yes, what are they? Do they make you feel happy?
Did you reach out for help when needed (e.g. friends, family or professional help)?
If there was a time where you needed to speak with someone, did you try reaching out? If yes, to whom and how did it go? If not, why not?
7. Build Habits
By adopting good habits and getting rid of bad ones, we can improve our quality of life and reach our goals faster.
Moreover, there are tons of tools out there to help you with habits – ranging from books to apps.
What good habits have you adopted this year?
What bad habits have you kicked?
What worked?
What didn’t work?
Before you jump into setting your new year’s resolutions for 2024, take some time to reflect on this 2023 first.
Review goals that you set at the onset of this year, assess learning, practice gratitude, and evaluate your relationships.
Additionally, revisit mental health practices and habits.
By implementing these seven steps to reflect on 2023, you will be better positioned to set goals for 2024!
Thank you for taking the time to read and kindly provide your feedback 🙂
