End Of The Year Review
December and 2021 are quickly coming to a close! The final days of December are the perfect time to do an end of the year review on yourself. It gives you the chance to reflect on what worked and what didn’t work this past year allowing you to celebrate your wins and learn from your losses. You can then set new goals and apply new methods for the following year. Life is all about learning and who better to learn from than yourself?!
An end of the year review is typically used by businesses in an effort to record and assess overall performances between the employees. These reviews help to acknowledge performances, achievements, goals, and ideas for the upcoming year. However, reviews don’t necessarily have to be used just by businesses; they are easy to apply to day to day life as well. It is important to know that each person’s self review will be different and personalized. Nonetheless, every self review will result in the same thing—personal growth.
Below are a few questions that you could use to do your end of year self review. There are no wrong answers and the more honest you are with yourself, the more personal growth you’ll experience.
How would you describe your year? Use one word to describe your year and then explain why you chose that word. Take your time thinking about this one and figure out how the past 365 days really made you feel.
What was the biggest goal that you achieved this year? Reflect on the one that stands out and gives you the most pride.
What was this year’s highs and what were its lows? It is important to reflect and review on the lows of life just as much as the highs. Not sure how to start? Create a list of all of the memorable events of this past year—both good and bad. This list may be able to help you with other review questions.
What was this year’s biggest challenge and how did you learn from it? Ask yourself what challenged you this year and caused you the most trouble, stress, or sleepless nights? Evaluate that challenge and figure out at least one lesson from the situation. Try completing this exercise whenever you are faced with a challenge, no matter the time of year. Always try to learn from your challenges.
What can you do next year to make it better than this year? Based off of the lows of this year, what are you willing to do next year to make it better? Are you going to get more sleep, eat better, arrive earlier to work? Ask and write down what steps you are going to take to better yourself next year.
What is your biggest goal for next year and how do you plan to achieve it? This is the most important question of all! Typically this answer is based off the previous highs and lows of the year, so reflection is key here. Once you discover that goal, create actionable steps that you can follow to get you there. Remember this is all about personal growth.
While these are just a few fundamental questions that you can ask yourself, there are many more. Remember, that your self review is customizable to you. Feel free to include any and everything that you want because it will allow you to explore every avenue for growth. For example, you can reflect on finances, relationships, achievements that you made or missed, any regrets or lessons you may have learned, what values are most prominent in your life, things that may have inhibited you from accomplishing goals, amongst any other topics you desire. Your self review is ultimately yours. You are free to discuss and explore anything you want in your life. I recommend writing it down so it gives you a play by play of your yearly reviews. Nothing is more rewarding than being able to physically look back and witness your personal growth from your own perspective.
Take all of this information and use it to inspire your own self review this year. Use it for yourself, your family, your career, or any other area of your life that needs a bit of reflection and goal setting. Be sure to be authentic and honest with yourself; don’t just document the positives of your year because it is important to also note the negatives. The negatives allow the most room for personal growth—they give us a first hand answer on what didn’t work, so be sure to include them in your year end review. With all of that in mind, remain aware that this exercise is all about growth and learning from your past. Ultimately, this is all about becoming a better version of yourself.
