We often pause to take stock of our lives and perceived progress on our journeys at certain milestones. Like many others, the end of a calendar year tends to be that trigger for me and as I’m preparing to pause and hit reflect on what’s been a rollercoaster of a dozen months, I thought I’d share my process with you.

Without approaching this intentionally, we often slide into thinking biases that weigh us down. Maybe you tend to compare yourselves to others, benchmarking your status against higher standards, or focus on the gaps in what you haven’t achieved, underselling your accomplishments.

Because it’s so easy to get overly focused on what we believe to be our failures, it can help to take a step back and view different elements of our lives as a frame of reference for reflection. For example, thinking of connections made, ideas generated, obstacles overcome, hobbies pursued, stories told, and decisions made.

Our priorities also tend to shift naturally throughout our lives, sometimes intentionally and other times due to unexpected circumstances. Consider what areas are most important to you in this next phase and what can take a backseat for now. We’ll focus both on the small things, zooming into daily habits, and the bigger picture, zooming out to get a broader perspective.

Grab your journal and a cup of tea or glass of wine, and let’s get into it.

Zoom in

1. What drained your energy the most or caused the most stress for you on a daily basis in 2024?
2. What made you feel most alive and brought meaning and joy into your days?
3. What is one thing that happened over the past year that you can learn from moving forward?
4. What is one way you made an impact or contribution that makes you feel most proud?

Zoom out

1. What is one way you grew personally or professionally in 2024 and how would you like to build on that for 2025?
2. Do you feel you lived in alignment with your values this year? If not, what adjustments can you make moving forward?
3. What potential opportunities do you see within reach for yourself in 2025 that weren’t there at the start of 2024?
4. What can you do to make sure the upcoming year brings you one step closer to your overall career vision or mission?

If this last question stumped you, put some thought towards imagining what your career and life would look like ten years from now. Really picture yourself – where you are, what you’re doing, who you’re with, etc. – put yourself in that moment and then come back to today to see what one change might be to get you closer to that vision.

Let the insights sink in and think about how you’ll go about acting on any desired adjustments. Think about what concrete steps you will take to carry out changes. Are there daily habits you want to drop or pick up? Is there something new you want to try each month? What does that change look like? How can you build it into your calendar to make it easier to achieve?

If you want help with reflecting on your year, developing your career vision, or making plans for 2025, I’m happy to chat over a free consultation.

As you ring in the New Year, let your celebration be threefold: (1) a moment of pride for what you’ve accomplished and compassion for what you’ve endured over the past year, (2) a moment of joy and mindful presence with anyone you might be with but especially within yourself, and (3) a moment of optimism and excitement about what 2025 will bring.

We only have three thousand weeks to live, what will you do with your next fifty two?

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! – Julianna