Professional athletes improve their skills by reviewing game footage with their coaches. It's easy to emulate this technique and conduct a simple "performance review" of your year. Grab a pen and let's get started!
Your Year in Review
1. We're always making choices, whether we do so consciously or not. Consider, for a moment, the state of your health, writing practice and relationships. What choices did you make this year to get the results you're getting?
2. Pull out your calendar or PDA and look at December "at-a-glance." In 2-3 sentences, record a few brief notes describing notable activities/events. Next, describe (to your best recollection) your feeling state during the month. (Optimistic? Fearful? Overwhelmed?) Keep it brief: your goal is simply to describe. Resist the urge to judge, explain or justify yourself.
3. Repeat step 2 for each calendar month, working backwards through the year. If this becomes too overwhelming, break the year into quarters and review it 3 months at a time instead.
4. Take 3-5 minutes and quickly list everything you can think of to be grateful for. When we're focused on improving or enhancing our lives (such as with new year's goals and resolutions), it's easy to become disempowered and focused on what's not right in the moment. Reconnecting with what all that we do have is energizing, empowering and healing.
5. Close out your review by breathing in deeply and blessing the year. Ok...so what exactly do I mean by "bless the year?" In whatever way makes most sense for you, find a way to close out the events and energies of 2008. Perhaps you'll want to go for a run, write a statement of self-forgiveness, or say a short prayer. You may want to simply tuck these pages in a notebook or file them away. (Or burn 'em.) Whatever you decide, take a moment to "close out" the year in a resonant way.
I hope you found this exercise fun and useful. Enjoy your day today, and Happy New Year, everyone!
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