Review & Reflect. Past & Future


TO BE THE BEST YOURSELF
TO BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL


Why set the goals? What’s the purpose for having them in writing? So many people live their lives without having any goals or specific long-term plans written. They do just fine, so why? You got to enjoy the life! Chill out! Go with a flow. Follow the stream of life. The life is short.

I can agree only on with a fact that the life is short and you should enjoy every single day of your existence. However I don’t want to live by the flow. I doesn’t mean swimming against a current. I am wired differently than people who look at the life through such lenses. I am made for a challenge, I am a warrior. Not to fight, but to break the limits. Not to be against, but to be in peace. If you are like me, than goal setting should make sense to you.

2020 gives us a chance to start from the “blank page”. It gives hope that things will magically change, making all the dreams come true. In the new year we are all billionaires, fit, and happy. New Year is just another version of magical “tomorrow”, where we start eating healthy, exercise, and live meaningful lives. I don’t have this hope anymore. I am 110% responsible for my past, present and future, therefore there is no place for hope in this equation.


Growth is our Mandate


The year is over. Draw the line, count your wins with losses. It takes work to review and evaluate. However if its too difficult for you, if you don’t have time – that’s okay. Go back to living the way you did for the past year. Please continue blaming everyone and everything, for not living the best life you possibly could. You absolutely have the right to do so and I don’t blame you. However if you are committed to growth, if you you are a warrior – I respect you. By writing the goals we create a roadmap for us to follow. The roadmap towards personal growth and development. For you, I wrote this post to help you look back and evaluate your past year’s goals, assuming you’ve had any. I put together the list of questions you must ask yourself to get a handle on the past year.


20 Questions to Review the Past Year


  1. In one or two sentences, describe the past year.
  2. How realistic were your goals? Which were unrealistic? Which were close to reality?
  3. How many of your goals were short-term, how many long-term? Do you need to focus more on a bigger picture?
  4. How did you track the progress of your goals? What have worked well and where have you struggled the most?
  5. Which goals were the easiest to achieve? Which were the hardest?
  6. Which activities or events brought you the most joy and happiness?
  7. Pursuing which goals made you miserable?
  8. Where do you feel like you could’ve done a better job?
  9. In which areas of your life you feel like you could improve or put more emphasis on? Which areas have you focused on the most?
  10. What were your biggest wins this year? What are you proud the most?
  11. What were the most important lessons you learned this year? What did 2019 has taught you?
  12. What are the things that happened to you this year that you are grateful for the most?
  13. What personal quality(s) have you developed this year, you haven’t had before? 
  14. Which things/areas of your life are still important to you?
  15. Which pursuits are not relevant anymore and you would like to drop?
  16. What habits would you like to stop?
  17. Developing OR maintaining what habits will improve the quality of your life?
  18. What were the places you felt the happiest at?
  19. Who are the people you are grateful for the most?
  20. Doing which activities brought the most joy and happiness, in short or long-term?

How do you feel now, after answering some of or all the questions? Do you feel more clear, maybe more grateful or like a complete loser? What’s on your mind? Write it all out. Later you will use it to plan ahead into the new year.


Plan Ahead


Last year I wrote the post called “Close your eyes and imagine 2019 is over”. It is the guidance for planning the upcoming year’s goals. Information is still relevant and if you need a place to start, go ahead and click on the link above.

In brief:

  • Phrase your choices in the NOW.
  • Phrase your choices in the POSITIVE . The mind doesn’t translate words of negation, such as not don’t , or stop.
  • Eliminate the word “WANT”. Replace the word want with have. I have a strong body; I have relationships of love and respect etc.
  • Define your top priorities for the coming year? What’s most important to you?
  • What will you need to achieve your goals, based on priorities you described? What habits will you need to develop? How much of resources will you need (money, time, connections with people… etc.)
  • Which goals will you transfer and continue pursuing in the new year?
  • Optional:
    • What will it cost you to not achieve your goals?
    • What are the activities you need to do consistently in order to achieve your goal in each of priority areas?

I went through this process myself. However, I will not share my review, as no-one should really care. It’s your own life and you do it just for yourself. I can say it was not easy and it took me a few weeks to complete the review. Planning is always a work in progress. You change, your environment change, your goals change. You HAVE to be flexible, you have to adjust. That is why don’t put the dot at the end of the list of your goals. Put three …