As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about how best to reflect on this year before I jump into the new one. I spent many years as a project manager and one of the keys to wrapping up a project was the “Lessons Learned” activity. If you aren’t familiar with this, here is a brief outline of the concept.
Get all of the project stakeholders together and ask the following questions:
- What did we do well?
- What could we do better?
- What should we keep doing on future projects?
- What should we change going forward?
Seems simple, right? You might be surprised at the conversation these questions can drive. Everyone gets to share their opinion, and many times there is a group that feels something was done well while another group sees it as a miss. It all depends on your perspective. The end goal is to help the next project be more successful than the one that was just completed.
Now, these aren’t the exact questions I’m thinking about, and I am certainly not planning to get a group together to ask what I did well and what I could have done better. This isn’t a 360-performance review of my year; this is my internal reflection. That being said, here are some questions I am reflecting on myself as I close out the year.
- What am I proud of accomplishing this year?
- What surprised me this year?
- What is one book/movie/article that impacted the way I think about life? Why?
- What new things did I try this year?
- What did I let go of / stop doing that I would like to re-establish?
- What did I let go of this year that lifted a weight off my shoulders?
- What did I start doing this year that I need to let go of?
- What did I start doing this year that made a positive difference in my life?
- Who were 5 important people that influenced my life on a personal level?
- What am I leaving unresolved and why?
Now, look back at those answers. Is there a word or sentence that sums up the theme of the year?
I’m not going to share my answers now, as it will take me a few days to work through this. I encourage you to take this list, make it your own, and work through it as the year comes to a close. Then, check back on January 1st as we start the process of setting intentions (NOT RESOLUTIONS) for the new year!
Girl in the Garden 