I was on a long transatlantic flight yesterday and took some time to go through my personal journal as I begin to prepare for my annual evaluation. This is a habit I have developed in recent years that helps me become more intentional about the following year. As a result 2016 will end up as one of my best years, in terms of living a purposeful life. It has not always been like this…Previously, like most people, I will wait till the New Year and write out my resolutions in a journal. During the course of the year, I even forget where I wrote down those resolutions and probably never looked at them till the next year.
Following my desire to live a more intentional life , I learned some practices which I will like to share with you on how to look back to plan forward. This is culled from an article written by my mentor and friend – John Maxwell. This is what he does towards the end of the year:
STUDY YOUR WINS AND LOSSES
First, I pull out my calendar and make a list of significant events, tasks, meetings, decisions, and accomplishments. I spend time reflecting, in order to remember and write down every experience that stood out in the past year. I write down both positive and negative experiences, because I know that I learn more from losing than from winning.ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS
- What did I do that I shouldn’t have done?
- What did I spend a lot of time on? Was it a priority? Was it in my strength zone? Was it something only I could do, or should I have delegated it? What will I do differently this year?
- What didn’t I do that I should have done?
- What’s missing from the calendar? What did I neglect that I should have been a priority? What action didn’t I take, that really should have been done? What will I do differently this year?
- What is the most important thing I did this year to help someone else?
- Can I do it again next year (for them or another person)? Did I do it as effectively as possible? How could I do it better in the future?
- What did I do this year that helped me grow more than anything else?
- Is it repeatable? Do I want to make it a regular habit? How can I break it down into manageable “chunks” to make it happen again this year? What else can I do to grow?
- Where do I need to be more intentional?
- Where did I let things happen to me, instead of making them happen? What bad habits do I need to break? In what areas do I need to focus more attention, make important decisions, and take steps in a positive direction?
- How can I take things to the next level?
- How can I take a good experience and make it somehow better? How can I grow more in the upcoming year? How can I make something that was satisfying even more satisfying? How can I top last year’s accomplishments? How can I exceed my own expectations, as well as the expectations of others? Don’t settle for good when great is a possibility.
By listing and asking questions about my experiences, I’m able to truly learn from them. Then I can apply the lessons learned to the coming year. This allows me to be as intentional as possible in how I grow personally and add value to others.
Making resolutions or goals that are disconnected from your current habits and recent experience often doesn’t work. You must connect what you desire to do and change to evaluation of your experience, or you will end up like many others who make resolutions on New Year’s Day and break them by the end of January.
I will be going through this exercise next week. I hope you will also schedule some time to do this as well.
How else do you look back to plan forward?