How to Reflect on Your Year in 2022
A guide to reflecting upon the year in a useful way
Time to Reflect
How did you do in 2022? It is about time you answer this question. With the year ending soon, your business and your mind should get a little recap to evaluate and learn from the efforts you’ve put in. We are certain that you’ve had a year full of surprises, opportunities, and achievements. So, let’s see how you did. This brief guide will help you to round up your year productively with the use of some smart self-reflection tools.
Memories of Lessons
First of all, you’ve got to remember what you’ve actually done over the course of the year. For that, you might have a personal calendar or a journal, which could be of use. Look back at your days, weeks, and months. What have you learned? What have you accomplished? Where did you fall short? What happened? Look back at your performance and recognise the major events that occurred. Think about your experiences in terms of their influence on your life, both business and personal, and make sure you recall them all. Asking these questions and remembering the year is necessary. And it is only the beginning. To review your performance, first, you’ve got to recognise it.
So, take some time to reflect on your year 2022 activity!
List and Recognise
With your memory slightly refreshed, it’s about time we dive into some practicalities. The tool we recommend at this stage is rather simple. A list. Whether on your computer, in a notebook, or on a piece of paper, write down as many notable moments from the past months as you can. You don’t need details for now. One-word points will do. Note down your achievements, shortcomings, and situations that had a major impact on your professional development. Ask yourself questions like: “what was the most important thing I’ve done that month” or “which obstacle was the most difficult to overcome”. By engaging in this review, you’ll gain insight into the quality of your efforts and the many facets of your year’s experience. Learn how entrepreneur Kevin Mansell-Abel learns to adapt in our interview with him, here!
So, make a list of your adventures and use it to your advantage!
Organise Your Notes
As you have got them written down, it’s time to put your notes in order. In other words, you have to categorise. At this stage, you can freely annotate and describe your experiences in more detail. Decide what were the important aspects of those events and elicit a better understanding of them. Think of the categories you could use. Headings like “personal goals”, “professional achievements”, “wellbeing efforts”, “relationship experiences”, and others, will help you create a well-rounded perspective of your year. It might be useful to be specific, but remember not to overdo your categories. With too many variations, you won’t be able to compare your experiences from month to month. You would be missing a point. After all, you’re trying to understand your yearly performance altogether.
So, organise your lessons and see their lists like roadmaps written after coming home!
Analyse Your Performance
With the categories done and dusted, you’re ready to really look into your performance. How well did you do professionally? How many times did you stumble or fall? Which activities had the most impact on your achievement? These are the kind of questions you want to ask yourself at this stage. A simple way of organising your memories is to judge them from the angle of emotions. Look at each event and ask yourself whether it was a positive, negative, or neutral one… This will help you evaluate your performance and understand potential trends in your activity. For example, if every time you fell short when working for a client was associated with a difficult time at home, a likely conclusion could be that creating a more stable work-life balance should be one of your priorities in the years to come.
So, analyse your performance and evaluate your experiences!
Look into the Future
Assuming you’ve followed our recommendations, you should have a thorough analysis of your year 2022 in front of you. By now, you should know how to reflect on your year in 2022 and in the years to come. With this process, you’ve gained some invaluable knowledge. Now is the time to use it. After all, knowledge without application is merely information. So, with your past experiences in mind, think of the year ahead and plan your approach. Recognise in which areas you’ve done an outstanding job and use them to support your progress. Understand where you’ve fallen short and come up with actionable solutions to avoid such experiences in the future. Polish your ability to anticipate, plan, and execute. Create your future, rather than wait for it to happen for you.
So, look into the future and apply your knowledge to make it yours! We would like to leave you with the words of Abraham Lincoln – ‘the best way to predict your future is to create it…’
Before You Go
If you’ve enjoyed this article and you feel we’ve helped you on your journey, check out our article about ‘keeping yourself accountable’ to further empower your 2022 head start.
And if you’re looking for a freelancing platform that puts you first, join Revolancer today!
Freelance marketplace: Revolancer