Self-reflection is vital if you want to live your life by design. Just as you should review each day, week, and month, at the end of each year you should set aside a block of time to review the year and reflect on it. This will allow you to do all of the following:
- Recognize your accomplishments and give yourself kudos for what you did well.
- Reflect on the lessons you learned, as well as the knowledge and skills you acquired.
- Acknowledge your mistakes and missteps so you can use them as a self-improvement tool.
- Analyze how you could do better moving forward.
- Figure out what gives you joy and what you’re truly passionate about.
Regardless of what you are feeling, whether it be straightforward and easy to name or complex and hard to grasp, reflection can be a useful way to validate your unique experience. Reflection also can help create space for gratitude while also providing insight that can inform how you move forward into the next chapter, a relationship, or even the next step in your career.
Thinking about all of this at one time can be challenging. We have created a Year-End Reflection Guide to help when reflecting on what went well, what didn’t, and how that information might inform future intentions for your overall well-being in the weeks, months, or even years to come.
