It’s Year-End Review Time

It’s getting to be that time of year when a lot of folks start thinking about new years resolutions. Don’t do that.

Using a review of the prior year to inform plans for the new year has been far more effective than arbitrary resolutions for me.

It’s a simple process:

1. Look back over the past year. It’s best to use your calendar and go week by week; this takes less time than you think.
2. Identify and write down things that stand out as either especially positive or especially negative.
3. Do more of the positives in the upcoming year. Ideally schedule them on your calendar.
4. Add the negatives to your “do not do” list and review it regularly (this is a good time to start a running “do not do” list if you don’t have one already).

That’s it.

This is not my original idea. Tim Ferriss and James Clear both take similar approaches and I have been inspired by their teaching in my own practice.

What do you think? Have traditional resolutions worked for you? Do you have a different approach?