Are we there yet?
The last month of the year is naturally a time to consider the year in review. Think about all the ideas and aspirations at the beginning. Maybe we made specific resolutions. Maybe we had a thing we wanted to build out and see through to the end. Maybe it was something we adjusted and had to flex because the projected outcome wasn’t what we thought. Maybe it was an issue or challenge that popped up out of nowhere. Maybe we thought it, did it, and it was awesome.
Regardless of what it was, or is, or could yet be, there comes a time when we assess our progress. We analyze what it’s been like, what’s happened, and what it’s like now. Have we kept to our goals and objectives? If so, how has it turned out? If not, what have we learned?
Time for reflection.
A year-end reflection is a process of looking back at the past year to evaluate accomplishments, challenges, and lessons learned, which helps us to understand ourselves better. It makes sense of our experiences by reviewing what went well and what didn’t, identifying key relationships, and recognizing areas for improvement. It guides us toward our goals for the future, even if they are immediate and a couple of weeks or so away from being realized.
Here’s something you and I can do. Make a list of all the things from the start; all the things we wanted to accomplish. Create a list with columns like initial thoughts, those involved, milestones, obstacles, outcomes, and what remains. Contemplate what we thought would happen and what actually did happen, and the gaps in-between. That’s where the real learning resides…in the gaps. Own the gaps and then make the decisions in moving forward.
Starting strong is good. Finishing strong is epic.
Robin Sharma shared that. Simply put, it’s not how we start, it’s how we finish. Because let’s be real, we all have great intentions in the beginning. The real impact is what we do as we continue to do our best with what we are given. Life is like a box of chocolates – we don’t know what we’re going to get. We respond accordingly and keep moving forward with every choice we make.
The past is gone, and the future has not yet happened, so the only moment that truly exists and is within our control is the present moment. Maybe that’s the secret sauce when we’re in the last month – that it’s doesn’t matter if we’ve met, failed to meet or even exceeded our goals and objectives from the year. What really matters is that we are fully, intentionally, and joyfully doing the best we can in the present moment.
The past does not have to play a part in the future.
Clearly the past will indicate where we’ve been, but it doesn’t have to dictate where we go next. And I wholeheartedly believe that is the critical part in finishing strong. As Carl Jung said, “We are not what has happened to us. We are what we choose to become.” It suggests that while our history is a part of who we are, especially in what has transpired in the past year, our future is determined by the conscious decisions we make to start, stop, continue, change, and grow forward right here, right now.
If you’re interested in reflecting on the year and finishing strong, consider the following questions.
- How would you assess your year in review?
- What represented your achievements and your failures? What did you learn from each?
- What changed? What stayed the same?
- Who benefited from your collaboration?
- How did you respond to adversity, chaos, and disruption?
- What specific things could you have done more of and less of?
- If you had to do the year over again, what would you do differently?
- And if someone watched your year in review, what would they have seen and said?
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