How To Reflect On 2024 And Get Ready For The New Year
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Søren Kierkegaard
It's the end of the year and what a year it was! To better understand what actually happened in your life, the ups and downs, the achievements and lessons learned, the end of the year is a great opportunity to take some time to consciously reflect.
1.Set up a timeframe
It doesn't matter if you spend an entire day, an evening or one hour on it, the simple act of doing it will help you understand yourself better, you will be more aware of what you've achieved this year and be ready to start the new year with more clarity. It's a great moment to let go of the things that don't serve you anymore, and to be conscious of what you want more of in your life.
2. Set up the space
Make this your own little end-of-the-year ritual. Prepare your preferred hot beverage, choose a space where you won't be disturbed, light a candle, listen to your favorite playlist. Make this your time, and most importantly, enjoy it. If you cannot take a lot of time to prepare your reflections ritual, a simple notepad, a cup of hot coffee and sitting down in a coffee shop will do, too.
3. Take stock of your highs and lows
Depending on how much time you have, you can do this part of the exercise per month, per quarter, or for the entire year. Grab your phone, scroll through your calendar and/or photo gallery and write down all the highs and lows of your year. If you still use an actual (paper) agenda or you write in a journal, then take those, too. What are some of the happiest memories you have of this year and what were maybe some more difficult moments? Write them all down, without any judgment. As mentioned earlier, you can write them down per month, per quarter or for the entire year. A little bonus would be to then pick a theme or summarize every month/quarter or the entire year in three words maximum.
4. Ask the right questions
Before you start this step, take a moment, close your eyes and remember all the things you wrote down – the big, the small, the happy, the messy – take a deep breath and be grateful for everything you experienced this year and celebrate it within your inner eye. You made it this far, well done!
Once your eyes are open again, let’s go deeper: have a look at everything you wrote down and consider categorizing your items, some examples for categories are “health”, “fun”, “career”, “relationships”, “family”, or “learning”. You can do it in writing or in your mind while going through the list.
Which of the categories was the “fullest” this year? Which would have needed some more attention? And is there a category you miss and would like to add it? Which category would you like to fill up next year? This is also a lovely exercise to do with your close friends – either on New Year’s Eve or maybe when you come together for the first time in the new year.
5. Envision your future
Visualizations are truly powerful. If you’re still in doubt, I recommend The Power Of Visualization And How To Use It . Your mind is such a powerful tool, and so is your subconsciousness. When you do a visualization exercise, you tap into the combined power of both (your mind and your subconsciousness) and can envision your future in so many details that you almost think that it’s real. You can either look for guided visualization exercises or you can start with a relaxation exercise and then imagine waking up in the new year and let an entire day unfold – where do you wake up? who’s with you? what are you doing? what do you smell? how do you feel? Ask yourself these questions while you walk around in this new day and simply let your day unfold and your imagination flow. If you’re less of a visualization aficionado, you can also do this in writing and imagine your perfect day, without any judgment, any boundaries and just let it flow.
Once you’re done, think of one thing you can do already today to make it a reality and you’ll see how one action will lead to another. And most importantly: have fun while doing it!
This article was originally published on Forbes.
