We have a new year coming up and at this time of year, I usually take some time aside with my favorite pen, a notebook, and my calendar, to reflect upon the year that has passed. I love the insights and the sense of clarity it gives as I move forward to a new year.
So why would you want to do a yearly review?
If you are running your own business, as I am, a yearly review is almost a must. What happens if I don’t reflect on what I do and how I am doing? Then something else is truly running my business. Like the circumstances, clients’ wishes, what people assume I want to do, etc. By at least having a yearly review I get to know my business and myself better in order to steer my beautiful ship.
If you don’t run a business you still can benefit from this exercise. Beyond being a walk through memory lane, which is nice enough, you will also see what you have spent most of your time doing, and you can then ponder whether those things really are what you want to continue spending time on. I bet you don’t want something outside of you to run your life either. If possible, avoid that.
Get a bird’s eye view
You already know everything that you write down when reviewing. After all, you were there all the time. But writing it down and seeing the ups and downs on a sheet of paper helps to see the whole picture instead of getting stuck in loops or nitty-pitty details, which is likely to happen if you only reflect loosely on the top of your head.
Find out what you want
I find it easier to plan ahead if I take time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t work in the past. Sometimes, I don’t realize where things are headed unless I pause for a moment and carefully examine the situation. What do I spend a lot of time doing but I am honestly not the best at doing that specific thing? And what do I keep on doing when in fact I don’t even enjoy doing it?
Let’s get started
There’s no better time than now. So let me guide you through this.
What you need
Pen and paper. For me writing on paper is the best thing. The connection between feelings – thoughts – brain – body – pen – paper is calming and beautiful to me.
You can print out my PDF below or make your own fancy version in your favorite notebook.
Your calendar. Maybe you are one of those annoying people who never forgets anything. If you are more like me you probably remember approximately ten percent. So pick up you calendar.
One hour. Don’t drag out on this. One hour will do. I’ve read about people taking the whole day off for their yearly review. But seriously, that’s no fun. And it puts an unreasonable weight to the outcome. This is for you, It has to fit your schedule and when it comes down to it – as I said before – you are after all familiar with the material.
A kind mind. Yes, the word boring, and the expression …meh is present in the template. It sounds pretty negative. But that doesn’t mean you need to be negative towards yourself. We can’t do fun things all the time, because that’s bloody exhausting. And we can’t succeed in everything we do, as in never ever delivering something meh, because then we have turned into fantasy people, not even walking this beautiful earth.
How does it work?
Go through your calendar week by week. Write down what you’ve been up to and quickly decide if it was fun or boring, and if you did great or meh.
This is not meant to be an exact exercise. So don’t get stuck on deciding what to write down – and don’t you start ticking in between the categories! This is an either-or thing.
The findings
After going through your calendar from last year like this, you will be able to see some patterns.
This is how I usually group and use my findings:
Boring + Meh: These are the things I have done in a crappy way and I didn’t even enjoy doing them. So I categorize them under stuff to avoid in the future.
Boring + Great: This is stuff I have done in a great way but still didn’t enjoy doing it. This is also suggested to avoid. But it’s a more tricky category, at least when it comes to business thinking, because it can be a matter of income. Some years ago my main revenue stream was building websites. After a while, even though I was popular and new exciting clients kept asking me to fit them into my schedule, it bored me out. After doing this exercise it was all too clear to me. So I made the decision to cut that part of my business, in order to make room for the things I loved doing. It was tough financially for a while, but I managed to change my focus, and I’ve never looked back.
Fun + Meh. Well, I have done a crappy job, but I loved doing it. So these are things I want to work on. Maybe I can take a course, or team up with someone who’s better than me in that area?
Fun + Great. Wow, I have done something in a great way and I loved doing it. These are my golden ones. This is what I want to do more, so I will try to find every opportunity.
So there you have it. Now, grab your calendar and a pen. Print out this template, and give it a go.
