What do I mean in the title of this last blog of 2024? I can almost be 99% sure most men, women, business owners, self employed individuals, families, and singles do not think to look back over the year jut ended and to see where they were on 1-1-2024 and 12-31-24. Why not?
Well, there are a number of reasons:
- They would rather just forget the whole year.
- They had some financial short falls or disasters and are hoping for a new beginning in 2025.
- A relationship went south and now they believe they must start over.
- A person had a health crisis and doesn’t know where to begin to get healthy.
- A child became a prodigal and they don’t know what to do.
- Or the opposite might have happened….The year was so great they don’t want to jinx it be looking back.
Those sound pretty lame when you look at what is going on in the word “Retrospect.”
For 20+ years now, I have followed the advice of one of my mentors and taken a look at each day, week, month, and quarter of the year just ending and asked myself some poignant questions. It is a great idea to do this now, because it isn’t too late.
- Every day when I wake up, what is the most important thing I want to accomplish today?
- When I look back upon my days, does my calendar reflect that “most important thing” or something else?
- What did I do that grew my business, relationship, wealth etc.?
- What did I do that brought me JOY and I want to repeat that in this new year?
- Whom consumed most of my time?
- Who deserved the most of my time in this new year?
- What are the 3 biggest lessons I learned over the year just ended?
- When I reflect on the year just passed, what do I not want to participate in this year?
- Which relationships do I need to let go of to move forward?
- When I evaluate my choices this past year, which ones propelled me forward?
- How many of my personal goals did I complete?
- How many of my professional goals did I see come to fruition?
- How many of my choices/decisions were good?
- How many of my choice/decisions were not good?
- What can I repeat?
- What can I stop?
While you are looking through those 365 days in your calendar, where were your wins?
Where were your defeats?
What brought a smile to your face?
Do you know where your top priorities / goals for 2024 are written down right now?
Looking at them. Did you accomplish 1, 2, 3, or 4 of them, or did they become a lost piece of paper on your desk someplace?
What in your observation of your calendar did you notice?
Now open your new calendar for 2025. Most likely it is not filled up at this time and ask yourself these questions:
- What do I want to do less of?
- What do I want to do more of?
- What is the one thing I want to improve this year Personally and Professionally?
- How am I going to do this?
- What do I feel about 2024 and now 2025?
- What do I think about 2024, and now 2025?
- What do I now know from 2024 and not to repeat in 2025?
There are seven steps to a successful year according to John Maxwell.
Step 1: Take the time to reflect and schedule it on your calendar. [do this now for December 2025!]
Step 2: Prepare your materials. Create a system and prioritize.
Step 3: Identify your priorities.
Step 4: Post your findings someplace you can see them every day at home and at your office.
Step 5: Make crucial discoveries your decisions.
Step 6: Plan! “You’ve got to be able t5ro touch the past before you can deal with the future.”
Step 7: Begin to schedule things. “A worthless meeting has no game plan in the beginning going in and no accountability coming out.”
Successful men and women in life and business have mentors. These mentors help a person become and stay accountable in they lives and the decisions they make.
Who mentors you?
Here are some ideas for you to ponder:
- There are people who know you, and they know they [the mentor] made a difference in your life.
- There are people who know you, and they don’t know they [the mentor] made a difference in your life.
- There are people who don’t know you, and the don’t know they [the mentor] made a difference in your life.
If you have a mentor, schedule a meeting to go over this exercise and see what your mentor did for their own end of the year review. If you don’t have a mentor and would like to start a growth relationship with a mentor, shoot me an email and ask how you and I can work together as a team to move you forward and upward in your professional and personal life today.
If you are looking for a mentor or coach to help you with your microphone, send me an email, and we can discuss the effective use of that microphone in your hands!
janice@janicebastanicoaching.com
8914 Collina Ct.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
908-229-3797
www.janicebastanicoaching.com
www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/janicebastani