The old, as in the past year, is the foundation for the new, meaning this year, in that a month-by-month examination of it will expose many patterns.
It will expose what truly mattered demonstrably to you in the past 12 months, which may differ from what you believed really mattered, as evidenced by your activities and outcomes.
Reviewing the waning year in detail may sound grueling, but it doesn’t have to be, and it is probably the most important step toward laying your groundwork for the new one.
That’s because life is cumulative: You can’t know where to head next if you’re vague about what got you where you are now.
When I take people through their annual planning and strategy session, the work begins with a month-by-month reflection of what happened, what didn’t happen, what happened instead as well as what was most gratifying.
This process clarifies not only where resources may have been missing or motivation lacking, but whether your goals or your timeline for fulfilling them has changed.
So in the midst of the holiday madness don’t neglect this self-reflection. You can even make it a holiday gift to yourself: Until December 14th you can lock in a 50% discount and book a session whenever you’re ready to lay out a new foundation going into 2025!
