Unlike New Year Resolutions, a year review can make you feel good about yourself and give you a stable base for what you’d like to have happen in the coming year. Resolutions can trigger your Inner Critic, especially if you don’t fulfil them, for whatever reason. Feeling crap about not doing your resolutions can spiral into negative self-talk about other areas of your life. You could end up feeling unmotivated or worse, depressed. So, here’s a way to feel great about 2019 and build a solid base for what you’d like for 2020!
How To Do A Year Review
Create A Time Boundary
On New Year’s Eve I set aside some time for myself to review what I loved about the year. The amount of time it takes varies, depending on where I am and who I’m with. In 2019 I was with my flatmate, and we started about 10:30 pm. After about forty five minutes, we stopped. I continued mine the next day and added to it the day after that that. My flatmate finished that evening. It’s up to you how long you spend on it but it does feel important to carve out that time specifically for it. You can do your review at any time too, not just at New Year.
Create A Space For Your Thoughts
I recycled four sheets of A4 paper that had stuff written on the other side. I sellotaped them together to create a big piece of paper. My flatmate used her journal. You could use anything – it doesn’t have to be paper. It could be capturing your thoughts on video or sound recorder, or you could imbue specific objects with your favourite parts of the year. You can be as creative as you like. You might like to put on some background music.
Capture Your Favourite Memories
My first thoughts were of playing ukulele with my friend, Margaret; we have learnt so much together and had a lot of fun. So I used watercolour pencils to draw a heart and write that in the middle. From there I drew more hearts and lots of my favourite things were entangled in other areas of my life so I drew tails from the hearts to show that. I used my calendar to jog my memory after a while. My flatmate made a list of her favourite things and used her Instagram account to help her remember. Again, you can be as creative as you like. The important thing is it’s about what you liked.
Share Your Favourite Things About The Year
When I do my year review alone, I share it on Instagram and Facebook, partly as a way of hoping to inspire friends to do it too. Because my flatmate was doing the process with me, I suggested we work quietly then share and she agreed. I loved hearing her favourite things and asking questions about them. I felt inspired by some of the things she’d done and made notes to do them too. It felt great to share my favourite things in conversation and be listened to. I do recommend getting together with a friend to do this process.
Revel In The Feelings of Loveliness
Every time I look at my year review it makes me smile. It also made me smile as I captured the memories. It reminds me of how many lovely moments made up the year. This is really important because when times are challenging, remembering this will help. That’s why it’s only about what you liked.
A Tool For Planning For This Coming Year
When you’re vision boarding for the coming year, the uncertainty of what’s ahead can get in the way of saying what you’d really love to have happen. That’s where your year review can help. A quick glance at what you loved about the past year reminds you of the base you’ve built so far. What would you like to add to that? And what else would you like? What does your heart long for?