Forget New Years Resolutions, Conduct A Post Year Review Instead
I’m officially out on New Years Resolutions. Let’s be honest, they are complete bullshit and more of an excuse or strategy to procrastinate, “I’ll get to it next year.”
Why not start improving yourself now? Or find new habits or opportunities that will take you in the direction you want to go?
I love this graphic:
The one thing I do enjoy about the end of the year is that it provides us an opportunity to sit down and think, unless you work in public accounting…
Usually, I do a year end review and focus primarily on my finances and professional life.
How much did I save throughout the year? Where did I make progress?
How many appointments did I do compared to last year? What would I like to change as I head into the New Year?
What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get improved. So this helps me look at the big picture to make sure I’m making the intended progress I want.
Now, this is typically a spreadsheet exercise and doesn’t require much thought.
That’s why I’m looking to adopt a strategy I heard first from Tim Ferris, which is conducting a past year review.
It’s a simple exercise: grab a piece of paper, and draw a line down the middle. Label one side “positives” and other side “negatives”.
Then I went through my google calendar, Outlook, pictures, social media posts, etc. to find people, activities, or commitments that trigged positive or negative emotions for me during 2023.
Positives: organizing get togethers with friends/family, traveling inside and outside the US, meeting with more clients (especially in person), prioritizing my health by going to the gym and trying new activities.
Negatives: lack of planning or being organized (passport issue when trying to leave the country, pushing off my CPA license renewal until I put myself through hell to get the credits done), playing golf with people who are brutal to be around, too much time wasted on administrative/marketing stuff.
Once you are able to jot a few things down, find those experiences where your energy was lifted and you were truly happy.
Immediately schedule more of those activities in 2024. Now.
Life gets away from us in case you haven’t noticed. If you aren’t proactive in filling your calendar for 2024, it won’t take long for others to fill it for you.
Lets all be more consistent this year.
That feeling of a fresh start only lasts so long and the new car smell fades away.
Life only changes when you change or you actually implement change, stop waiting and get busy living.
You may also find Sahil Bloom’s Annual Planning Guide helpful if you want to really get into this.
What are some things you want to do more of in 2024?
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