The start of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on the journey you’ve just completed. Taking a moment to celebrate your wins and milestones provides clarity, motivation, and a foundation for future growth. Reviewing the past year’s highlights is more than a feel-good exercise, it is a strategic tool to understand your progress, identify your strengths, and set the stage for intentional planning.
First, Why Reviewing Highlights Matters:
- Celebrate Progress: Recognizing achievements reinforces a positive mindset and builds confidence.
- Identify Patterns: Highlights reveal what worked well: activities, habits, or approaches worth replicating.
- Clarify Values: Understanding what is most important to you and what you pick to highlight shows your core values and helps with planning in the future.
Next, How to Reflect on Past Year Highlights:
Look at the months of the past year and make note of significant events, achievements, or personal milestones.
If you are using the Performance Planner, make note of key memories in each month on page 6 of the planner.
- Calendar: Check your calendar and note what was on it
- Pictures: Look at your pictures and what projects, memories, or events happened
- Memory Bank: Reflect on your major achievements, successes, and or significant memories and reflect on what month they happened
Consider:- What were your biggest wins last year? What are you most proud of achieving last year and when did that happen?
- Which moments brought you the most joy or fulfillment and when did that happen?
- When did you start a new habit, challenge, or program that has been impactful?
- When would you say you successfully overcame significant challenges?
Example:
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- Jan: Completed a major project at work.
- Feb/March: Trained for and completed a half marathon.
- April: Took a leadership course that improved communication skills.
- May: Strengthened relationships by spending more time with family. Graduation parties & family vacation.
Above and Beyond – More from Your Highlights:
In addition to noting them as a yearly summary or your highlights for the last year, these additional activities can support you to fully lean into and process them more.
- Create a Visual Timeline: Use a tool like Canva or PowerPoint to design a timeline of key events. Create an annual photo book. Visualizing your year gives you a holistic perspective.
- Journal About What Stands Out: Write about the moments that were most meaningful and why they mattered. This deeper reflection helps uncover patterns and values.
- Share with a Trusted Partner: Discussing your highlights with a mentor, coach, or friend can offer new insights and perspectives.
- Plan a celebration: Do something special for yourself or find a way to celebrate your achievements.
Taking time to review your past year’s highlights is a rewarding practice that sets the tone for purposeful planning. As you reflect, celebrate your progress, honor your wins, and carry those lessons forward. Your highlights are not just memories, they are stepping stones to future success. You can take one hour or one day for this step. If you are doing the planner in a day, please 30-60 minutes for this step. If you have more time, giving yourself more time for the above and beyond can be significant and impactful. You will appreciate it most after you have done this process for a few years! Have fun!
Introducing the Performance Planner: Reflect, Focus, Achieve
