Wow, it’s December already. The holiday season is in full swing, and 2019 is coming to a close. How quickly time passes! I find the short, cool days of winter a good time for reflection. Where have I been and where am I going?

Just as Thanksgiving can be a fine time to reflect on gratitude, the end of the year can be a great time to reflect upon the year. What is going well? What have been the triumphs and celebrations? What is not going well, and what have been the challenges? What must be accepted, and what can you change? Where do you want to head next?

As the year comes to a close, recall the start of the year. What were your hopes, goals, and plans? Consider your year in review. What would be in your highlight reel? Celebrate, with gratitude, all of the goodness. Celebrate your successes, your progress, and your good fortune wherever you find it. Want more success? Ask yourself what actions you took that contributed to your success or good fortune. Make a note to repeat those actions as you move forward.

This can also be an excellent time to learn from your challenges and from goals that remain unmet. What contributed to unmet goals? If a crisis derailed you this year, have compassion for yourself and your situation. Resiliently consider a return to your goal and your routines in whatever small ways you can and when you can.

If you have no real “excuse” for a lack of progress, use your reflection as a learning process. Are you still committed to the goal? Maybe your lack of progress informs you that the goal is not a true priority. What were you doing when you were making progress? Renew those efforts with more consistency. Was your goal realistic or did you bite off more than you could chew? If so, set more realistic expectations and recommit. What can you learn about what’s important to you by considering where you devote most of your time? If how you are spending your time does not reflect your values and priorities, these are great insights that can help you re-align. What action steps will you take to spend more time devoted to your top priorities?

It is this kind of honest reflection that allows us to learn from our experiences, try new experiments for how to make progress, and grow in the direction of our goals. As you prepare to turn the page to a new year, consider the following:

  • What are your highest values? How can the way you spend your time be more aligned with these values?
  • What is the next most important thing you could do to improve your well-being? What would be a consistent, small action step you could take to move in that direction?
  • What do you want to look forward to creating, doing, accomplishing, being in the new year? What regular efforts can you take to make that happen?

As 2019 comes to a close, I encourage you to review it with both gratitude and with the keen eye of a researcher. What were your results in this grand experiment of life? What variables will you change as you try the next experiment in an attempt to improve upon your results?

May you enjoy the quiet and peace available to you during this season. May you find insights and learning in the quiet reflection that propels you forward in the direction of your dreams in the New Year.