I see the value of reflection, but I rarely set aside the time to do it properly.
However, inspired by the end of the year, I decided to block out time to review 2014, remember the highs and lows, and save it in a Day One journal entry for future reference.
If you missed the boat on reflecting on 2014 when it was still 2014, fear not! It’s not to late to get your rearview glances in, and I’m sharing the 7 steps I took to give the year a thorough pat-down.
Here’s how I reflected on 2014.
1. Reviewed my calendar (via Fantastical)
I wrote down the major events from each month. Before my calendar review, I forgot about tons of highlights–even incredibly significant days and times with friends and family. I listed around 6–8 events and items for each month.
2. Reviewed my list of books read
I keep a running list in Evernote, but I hadn’t updated it since June. I did the bulk of my reading in the first half of the year so most books were listed, but I was having a tough time remembering the more recent reads (yikes!). Fortunately, my wife has an amazing memory and helped me recall the books in the gaps. I read 16 fiction books this year, which is undoubtedly a record for that genre, but only 24 non-fiction books. I raced to finish book number 40 (Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller) just before the year-end.
2. Answered these 20 questions by Paul Sohn
I did these before reviewing my calendar, which was a mistake, and I was in a grumpy mood for a reason I already forget, which made 2014 seem lame even though it was actually amazing. I’ve since gone back and refined answers (unfortunately I can’t go back and change my attitude).
3. Reviewed our budget via YNAB.
I listed the biggest purchases I made, that we made as a family, and my worst purchase (that would be a year-long Focus@Will subscription that I’ve used a measly 3 times).
5. Listed the relationships I saw deepened and established in 2014.
It was a great year for friendships and relationships in my life, and I’m grateful for friends, new and old. I want to continue to emphasis relationships, so remembering the sweet ones of this year helps.
6. Answered these 10, spiritually-explicit, questions
This list was helpful for thinking of areas in my spiritual life where I want to grow, and what I need to do to differently, and, by God’s grace, grow in those areas. The area I most want to grow in is scripture memorization, and I plan to memorize long chunks / short books of the Bible using the extended scripture memorization approach.
7. Listed highlights, disappointments, game changers, focuses, and things I forgot.
Inspired by this post, I used the image in the top right which suggested the topics above for reflection. Highlights were 90% relationship and experience related (as opposed to acquiring stuff) and disappointments were mostly related to my own sin and selfishness (go figure).
For me, I’m striving to make 2015 a year of refinements. I’ve got systems and processes in place that help me achieve goals, but I need to fine tune them and my own thinking. Here’s to another year worth reflecting on.