Five Things To Review Before The New Year

The end of the year is approaching and it’s a good time to stop and pause to reflect on the year that is coming to a close.  You may be thinking you’re not where you want to be or perhaps you’ve blown your expectations out of the water and far exceeded what you expected to achieve this year.  Either way, it’s important to review what’s worked and what didn’t work in order to set you up for success in the new year.

Here are five things to review before the new year.

1. Achievements

Think about the past year and what has gone well for you.  Write down your achievements and successes.  It doesn’t matter how big or small they are.  Think about the things that you’re most proud of and that bring a smile to your face.  Now that you have your achievements, you may be considering setting higher benchmarks to achieve in the new year.  Take some time right now and set goals for the new year.

2. Lessons Learned

You may have had some short comings over the past year.  These are the things that didn’t go quite so well or exactly as you had planned.  Review these things and take note of what you’ve learned in order to improve for next year.  Ask yourself if there is something you need to do differently in the new year in order to see success in the new year.  Remember, there are no failures.  Just lessons learned in order to improve and do better next time.

3. Delegate

Reflect on the past year and what you’ve spent the most time on.  You may have been spinning your wheels trying to figure something out or wasting your time working on something that’s not your area of expertise.  These may be things that you can delegate to someone else.  You may need to hire help such as an assistant or house cleaner who will be able to complete the tasks more efficiently.  Sometimes it’s simply easier to hire an expert.  Especially when your time can be better spent on more important things.

4. Eliminate

Thinking of using your time more wisely, there may be things you need to just stop doing completely.  This could be cutting back on the time you spend on social media or watching tv.  Eliminate frivolous things you’re wasting your time on.  Focus on the important tasks that are going to move you closer towards achieving your goals.  Avoid wasting time on the things that don’t move the needle.  You want to get to the end of next year feeling proud, successful, and accomplished.  Think about the things that have held you back this year from achieving your goals and eliminate them.

5. Self Care

Now that you’ve freed up some time, start adding things in that will enrich your life.  For example, spending more time connecting with family, taking a walk in nature, exercising, meditating, etc.  Schedule some time for self care that will refuel you.  Sometimes it’s just as important to slow down in order to speed up.  You need time to recharge.  Review your year and see if there were any times where you felt overwhelmed, stressed, or extremely busy.  Take note of these times of the year and see if you can better plan for the new year by scheduling in breaks and vacation for much needed rest.  You don’t want to be burnt out, overloaded, and frustrated in the new year.

If you want to achieve success in the new year you must first start by reviewing these five things.  Begin by making a list of all your accomplishments over the past year.  Set some goals for yourself in the new year.  Next, review the lessons you learned this year in order to improve and do better next year.  Consider things that you’re not an expert in and delegate them to someone else.  Your time is extremely valuable.  Eliminate things you’re wasting time on that are not moving you closer towards achieving your goals.  Lastly, schedule some time for self care.  Because, if you don’t take care of yourself you’ll never be able to achieve success in the new year.  Use these five things to help set you up for success in the new year.