Year End Reflections

3 Quotes

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”
― Hal Borland

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”
― Paulo Coelho

Let’s begin at the end. The end of the year, that is. Do you have any kind of practice or ritual to reflect on the end of the year?

This will be the 11th year that I write in a New Year's Journal. My very organized cousin, Emily, introduced me to this idea when I was in my 20s, single, and trying to figure out my career entire life. For years, we would meet at a Caribou Coffee on New Year's Day, bust out our multi-colored gel pens and New Year's Journals, and start writing.

We would write about the following categories:

Themes of the year
Key events that happened over the past year
Updates on important people in our lives
Careers/Education
Dating/Marriage
Friends
Money ( Or Lack Thereof)
Health and Fitness
Technology.

Then we would set goals and resolutions for the coming year. It’s amazing to have years of these reflections in one journal. First of all, the orderly structure was pure Emily. Left to my own devices, it would have been a free-form mind map, soon to be crumpled up and lost forever. Secondly, I was not interested in the technology category when we started doing this. Now I love looking back on what was cutting edge at the time. I didn’t have a smartphone when we started doing our New Year’s Journals! I listened to Krista Tippet's podcast on my laptop! Things have changed, my friends.

My New Year's Journal is now one of my most treasured possessions. It documents my many job changes, the rise and fall of significant friendships, and many dating disasters. It contains the first hopeful reference to a new boyfriend who seemed to have a lot of potential. Spoiler alert, that boyfriend has been my husband for seven years now and he’s the best dad in the world. Reading through the journal lets me see the pieces fall into place, year by year.

Every year, I read back over my previous entries and marvel at how much things have changed. And how much they have stayed the same. Keeping it all in one place lets me see how much I’ve grown and how much progress I have made. It helps me see patterns in my thinking and behavior: I always intend to eat a LOT of vegetables, but I never do. And I always vow that this is the year I’ll get fit and strong, but I never do.

The practice of writing in the journal is valuable to me too. It’s one of the few rituals I have in my life. I love carving out the time every year to look back and reflect on what has happened over the past twelve months. I love looking forward to the year ahead, so full of potential and possibilities! I love setting goals and dreaming about what I will create and experience in the coming months.

Perhaps this personal connection to year-end reflection is why I so thoroughly enjoy the first two podcast episodes I’ll share with you. Isn’t that half the fun of listening to podcasts? Finding kindred spirits you would never meet in real life? Two major names in the podcast world have year-end practices to share with us. They elaborate on their processes with us and tell us what they get out of the practice of doing a year-end wrap-up.

2 Podcast Episodes

The Tim Ferriss Show

Episode #559: “Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Conduct a ‘Past Year Review’ Instead”

https://tim.blog/2021/12/27/past-year-review/

First, a short, sweet episode from Tim Ferriss. In contrast to the show’s typical long-form, interview format, this episode is only 6 minutes, and 15 seconds long. Still, it packs a punch and gives you the information you need to understand what Tim Ferriss reflects on at the end of each year and how to implement your own year-end review. Tim is a successful author, entrepreneur, and podcaster.

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Episode #131 “How to Make 2024 the Best Year: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself.” https://www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-131

Next up, Mel Robbins shares the six questions she asks herself at the end of every year. Mel walks us through this in detail. She recommends getting friends and family involved, just like my cousin and I used to do our New Year's Journals together.

Mel Robbins is a former lawyer, podcast host, motivational speaker, and author.

1 Resource

Here’s a link to the workbook Mel references in her episode https://www.melrobbins.com/bestyear You can download the workbook and try your own year-end review.