With another year coming to an end, it is common to find ourselves thinking and reflecting on the past year. For most people, 2021 has been another interesting and challenging year. The past twelve months have brought many emotions to the surface and whilst it is easy to get lost in the uncertainty and anger of the current world, it is important to remember that there is always someone worse off. Now more than ever, it is vital to practice gratitude and enjoy the smaller things in life. If this year has taught me anything, it is to value connection and my community.
Reflecting on the past year is important as it enables us to acknowledge and honour what we have been through in the last twelve months. It gives us the chance to stop, untangle our thoughts and emotions and hold space for ourselves. This enables us to see how far we have come, what we have learnt and achieved and how we can take these lessons into the new year. It gives us an overview of the main events, our actions and reactions to both the positive and the negative and enables us to use this to our advantage in the future.
Reflecting can improve your performance in the coming year and teach you how to deal with similar situations in a better way. Understanding why you did something can help you decide if you need to do it again or if you can modify it to serve you better. It is giving yourself feedback on how you performed throughout the past twelve months and allows you to see the growth and progress you have made, despite how challenging the year may have seemed
However, for some people reflecting can be a hard and overwhelming task, especially when the year hasn’t been kind. We tend to hold on to the things that made us feel unworthy to try and protect ourselves from feeling that way again and in doing so we forget that good things happened too. Remembering and cherishing the good things is imperative for our emotional and mental wellbeing.
As you reflect on the year gone by, remember to look at your highs and lows, wins and losses and evaluate them in a way that will improve your overall performance in the coming year.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- How did I grow in the past year?
- What went well for me this year both professionally and personally? What did I learn from these things?
- What was the biggest challenge that I overcame?
- What was the best thing I learnt?
- Who needs to be acknowledged in my life? Is there anyone I should express gratitude to?
- What didn’t go as well as I had planned? What did I learn from these things?
- What was I most grateful for?
- What were my most memorable moments?
- What goals did I accomplish?
- Was I kind to myself?
- What was my single biggest time waster this year? How can I change this next year?
- Name the year, 2021 the year of…
- What can I improve upon in the coming year?
Another reflecting exercise which can be valuable for people who are new to self-reflection is to complete the Garden of Life Reflection by focus booster; a simple framework that uses a gardening philosophy to guide you. These three questions will help you consider what was great, what you could have done without and what you want to improve and see more of in the year ahead.
- Print the following page, make a relaxing tea, sit quietly and reflect on the past year.
- Use the columns to help guide you through your year and list as many things as you can think of.
- Put it somewhere safe so that you can reflect on it in twelve months.
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The best thing about reflecting on the year gone by is the determination and motivation you feel for the year to come. Whilst reflecting on the past, you are preparing yourself for the future. Look at the new year approaching as another opportunity.
Don’t forget to be kind to yourself and those around you, practice gratitude, smile more, be kind and spread love and happiness wherever you go because you never know what someone else is going through. A simple act of kindness goes a long way, so do what you can to make the world a better place!
Love Lauren x
