Every year our family looks forward to moments of rest, and times of reflection. What better time is there for this than when we turn the page from one year to the next? It’s in these occasions that we define family values & goals as we strive to walk worthy and live fully. As with anything, this requires intentionality. So one thing we do at the end of each year is review the past months together and make plans for a future that is worth all the effort.
Not to paint the wrong picture, please know that this is something that has evolved each year so by no means have we figured it out. Even so, as we’ve talked about our process with people, we’ve been asked to share our ideas so that others can initiate a similar concept within their families. So this year we wanted to publish version 1 of our End of the Year Development Plan; a framework for putting perspective into your future and past.
Overview
As the year winds down there are 3 steps we do to wrap the year in a bow and prepare for what’s ahead. Simply put, we go through some Preparations, Reflections, and Goals which I will go on to explain. Andrea and I like to take two weeks off to work through these things at a comfortable pace (the last week of the year and the first of the next); although in the past we found we still run out of time so we’ve even consider running this exercise every quarter. As you consider implementing these ideas, just know that the best way is to be intentional and frame expectations that fit for your circumstances.
1. Preparations
Preparations are the actions taken to decompress, declutter, and determine the key focus points for the upcoming year.
This is the first step towards the progress you want to make. From this should result many reflections from the current year(s). Some observations should be noted to celebrate while others may be critically considered in order to align with future goals.
Momentum happens in moments of action, so the first step towards a great year is to build some forward moving momentum. Preparations should be tasks that you do for yourself, and they should be performed introspectively. For example you might do some deep cleaning around the house, or perhaps just clean and organize your personal space (night stand, shed, desk, etc.). You could listen or read something inspirational (Craig Groelshel). While completing this task do it with your future in mind (i.e. how do I prevent this mess from happening again).
Personally I like to declutter apps from my phone, review my calendar week by week, and organize all my pictures from the year taking note of major milestones.
While I like to catch up on my life that has fallen through the gaps, declutter the house, catch up on laundry, and texting back friends. I also go through my journals and highlight major themes and take note of highs and lows to later reflect on.
The point here is to choose a task that fits you, it should be personally rewarding, realistic, and reflective. Think of this phase as a gathering process, in the end you should have some great things to reflect on in the next step.
2. Reflections
These are the observations made from reflecting on your year.
At this point you’ll want to spend time reflecting on the notes you’ve gathered from your preparations and look for keys to future success while you unpack some of the thoughts you reserved for this time. List and consider relevant statistics by which you might measure success, efficiency, or any other perspective of value (debt paid off, signs of growth, or failed expectations). You can add some type of rating to your remarks if you’d like (-, +, o for negative, positive, or neutral). Include realizations or conclusions that you may have arrived at through the process.
Reflection is the practice of hindsight vision, the more you reflect the more your foresight perspective possesses hindsight wisdom. This step is transformational because from here your thoughts evolve and you can look towards future goals with clarity and insight.
In the past I’ve taken note of the books I read, the projects I completed, and the lessons I’ve learned. During my preparations I might have made some mental notes that I now spend time analyzing and researching for improvement.
I use this as an opportunity to build myself up and reaffirm my identity, after the chaotic Christmas season. This year I wrote 100 things I love about myself and focused on how I can restructure my life to be the mother I aspire to be while pursing my ambitions.
These observations begin framing your goals for the last step and help you to target what is most important to you and why.
3. Goals
These are the priorities that you aim to establish in the coming year(s).
As you near the end of this personal development exercise you should be able to clearly identify the person you want to be in both the short and long term. Therefore, this step is not meant to be a checklist of to-do’s for the next year, rather this is a game plan for becoming the next version of you and positioning yourself to be where you hope to be this time next year. (We are currently working on version 34.0).
A well defined goal has a clearly defined “why” within it. So as you write down your goals (because an unwritten goal is just a wish), ask yourself “why.” Then dig even deeper and ask that “why,” why that is important. If you are honest with yourself here, you will reach conclusions that make what you pursue going forward #worthit.
Andrea and I like to define a word for the year, something that summarizes our goals into a common and single focal point. For 2019 our word was “Pursue,” (even without reflection I can tell you that definitely summarizes our year). Also we made plans to structure our life to fit our goals so that we can reach them; things like date nights, family meetings, budgeting, conferences, sports/activities for the kids, etc…
Conclusion
If you’ve never performed a year-end review then we hope you will consider taking the leap this year. It’s never too early to start somewhere. With that said, this past year we’ve begun inviting our kids into this process. Although their lives are much simpler, there is wisdom to looking at life with perspective – no matter the complexity.
So wherever you are, whether you use our framework or not, we hope you’re encouraged to simply start your journey of reflection and self-development and improve on it year over year so that you can be the Husband/Wife, Father/Mother, Son/Daughter, CoWorker/Colleague, etc. that you can be.
P.S. Here are some resources that we hope help you get started:
