End-of-Year Reflections for Growth
The end of December is a great time to set aside a few hours to reflect on the current year and dream for the next. This easy-to-follow guide will give you a simple framework to follow.
A Simple Framework
Start with identifying the major areas of your life. Although these may vary from person to person to some degree, the areas I choose to focus on are as follows…
Spiritual
Personal (mentally and physically)
Marriage
Motherhood
Community
Professional
Financial (although you can save this for later if your married…more on that in a bit)
Next, look at each area individually through the lens of several questions to gauge strengths, weaknesses, and future growth.
The questions I like to ask as I think through each of these areas can be worded in many different ways, but are essentially there to help identify things that have brought growth, things that have hindered growth, and what to do to continue to grow.
Now before I continue, I do want to mare a clarification. As a Christian, I don’t believe our lives should be about idolizing ourselves and constantly curating the “perfect life.” However, we are called to be faithful in what God has given. He has given me my life, my husband, my son, my time, my resources, my talents. It is wise to stop and evaluate habits and patterns. To remove that which hinders and to pursue that which promotes goodness.
So, with that in mind, I like to ask these simple questions to guide me….
What brought flourishing?
What hindered flourishing?
What actionable steps will I take to bring change or to continue in a positive direction?
I decided to go with the word “flourishing” this year. According to Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, to flourish means to…
-thrive, to grow luxuriant, to increase and enlarge, as a healthy growing plant
-be prosperous; to increase in wealth or honor
-grow in grace and in good works; to abound in the consolations of religion
and much more, but you get the idea!
I want to flourish.
I want to flourish in my marriage. I want to flourish as a mother. I want to flourish professionally and in community.
And I don’t think flourishing happens very often without intentionality, which is why I think it’s so important to slow down and prayerfully evaluate our lives on a regular basis.
Step One: Personal Reflection
Set aside 1.5 to 2 hours to work through these questions. Even if you spend 15 minutes on each area, it will only take 1.5 hours. And…if you need even more convincing, 1.5 hours is 90 minutes which is only 6.25% of a 24 hour day. Setting aside that 6.25% of your time for one day will be more than worth the investment.
Make sure you have at least one actionable step for each area as well (this could even be as simple as research books on ____ topic of growth).
Step Two: Share your Reflections
Set aside some time to share your reflections with your husband, a friend, or a mentor.
If you’re married, use this time to share your reflections from step one with your husband (and better yet, if he is interested in doing this as well, share these together). Also take a little time to talk through family life, finances and any other area of significance in your family (for us this is home renovations).
Again, make sure you have some actionable steps to move forward.
Step Three: Live it
Live out your goals. Be consistent, but leave room for grace. Be diligent, but don’t forget to delight in life. Know yourself. Know when you need to dig in a little more and know when you need to just rest.
I hope you enjoy this end-of-year reflection. If you give it a try, let me know in the comments what you think!
Thank you so much as always for being here!
As always, with love,
Ashlei
