As the year winds to a close, you might be embarking on your year-end review.
In past years, I’ve written extensively about my frameworks and processes for this annual ritual.
But lately I’ve been questioning my processes and wondering:
Is it really necessary to do such an extensive year-end review?
I’m going to betray much of what I’ve written in the past on this topic by saying:
No.
In fact, it might even be counter-productive.
When an Annual Review Becomes Procrastination
There were years when I diligently reviewed my calendar, journals, and albums — month by month — to capture every highlight and lesson. I filled pages of my journals with notes and lists.
Looking back at those years, I wonder how much it really served me. Did I really need to be that thorough?
I realize that perhaps my extensive year-end review was subconsciously a way to hold on to the year that was, instead of letting it go to move forward into a new unknown.
In that way, the year-end review became a form of procrastination: under the guise of doing the “constructive” thing, I was really delaying my progress.
Does this mean we should skip a year-end review entirely?
Not at all.
Skipping the Year-End Review is Sabotage
Not doing any year-end review is also a form of self-sabotage.
When we don’t process the disappointments, we end up planning our next year in reaction to them. We plan from a place of lack, or trying to “make up” for what we didn’t do, instead of from a blank slate that considers who we are and what we want now.
When we don’t harvest the lessons that we have learned, we’ll have to learn them again.
This can keep us in a cycle of getting stuck in the same places over and over.
And here’s the thing: once I sat down to review those years and looked more closely, I found that they offered plenty of highlights of their own, and sometimes more powerful lessons than the “good” years.
Step Back: Refocus on the Purpose
Whenever any process gets too complicated, it helps to return to the purpose of the process: the outcome you seek.
What’s the point of this year-end review?
Why are we even doing it?
Remember that the ultimate purpose of a year-end review is to:
- Process your disappointments so you don’t take them with you;
- Celebrate your wins so you can ride into next year on a wave of positive momentum;
- Recognize what brought you joy so you can create more of it next year;
- Harvest the lessons learned so you don’t repeat the same mistakes;
- Recognize how you’ve evolved, so you can set new goals that are aligned with the person you are now and what you value.
Here’s the truth: you know what went down.
You can likely skip the “research” in your journals, notes, spreadsheets, and photo albums unless you’re really stuck for memories.
The best way to avoid using the year-end review as a procrastination device is to simplify it.
A Simplified Year-End Review
Here is a simplified framework to help facilitate your year-end review without procrastinating on it — and without using it as a procrastination vehicle.
For each category, use the prompt to help you kick-start your reflection. Set a timer and free-write for that time. When the timer goes off, you’re done.
(1) Magic Moments
Magic Moments are the true gold of my annual review, and of my Daily Recap daily review.
When all is said and done, these are the moments I want to remember: the moments that brought me joy and made me laugh, the silly moments, the moments of elation and inspiration, moments of connection and confidence.
My stand-out magic moments from this past year are ….
(2) Gratitude
As you reflect back on your year, consider who and what you are grateful for. Think about people, experiences, events, circumstances, and things.
As I reflect back on this past year, I am most grateful for ….
(3) Celebrations
Our built-in negativity bias makes it easy to remember the disappointments and the places where we fell short. It’s important to acknowledge these and process the disappointment, but no doubt you’re probably already focused on that.
It’s equally important to celebrate your wins — and not just the big ones. In fact, the small wins are often the most impactful, even if they don’t feel like it at the time.
If you are struggling to find some wins, consider these prompts:
This was the year I finally …. This was the year I started to ….
(4) Lessons Learned
The lessons learned are the souvenirs you take with you from your journey through this past year.
Lessons can come from things that didn’t work well and from what did work.
As you reflect back, think of your lessons as something you want to actively apply going forward. How will these lessons inform your future decisions?
No doubt you have many lessons; keeping it to your top 3 will help you avoid getting mired down by the process.
The top 3 lessons that will guide my future decision-making are…
(5) Identity Shifts
The most important part of any journey point is how your identity shifts.
If you’re growing, you’re changing.
You came into this year as one person, and you are leaving it as a different person, perhaps with some changes in values, mindsets, attitudes, beliefs, or all of the above.
The way you see yourself determines the actions you take, so it’s useful to get clear on who you are leaving behind and who you are bringing forward.
These prompts will help you identify both sides of the coin:
As I enter this new year, I am leaving behind the person who ….
I have become someone who ….
Give Yourself a Timeline and a Deadline
How much time you give yourself for your year-end review is up to you. You can give yourself 10 minutes per category and complete the whole thing in under an hour, or you can choose to spend longer.
Give yourself a timeline and a deadline, and block your time to get it done.
You may not cover everything, but trust that you’ll cover what’s most important.
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...