Learn how to use 9 simple questions to review the end of the year, or even your life. In this podcast Episode, David Loveless talks about the most important hour you can spend this month, and why he has done it every year, for more than 3 decades.
To listen to the audio of this podcast, click the above play arrow.
Here is a brief summary of today’s episode of “The Live True Podcast.” You can use this as a reference or reminder of key things you feel like you need to pay attention to or pass on to others, in the next 7 days of your life.
Most every year, over the past 3 decades of my life, I’ve gotten away for a couple of days, at the end of the year, to review the previous year, before planning the new one.
One of the primary values of doing a “Year-End Review” is having a process to complete the past so you’re able to bring forward, into the new year, lessons learned from the previous one. But then you don’t want to drag any of the unnecessary parts into the future, where it might sabotage it.
There are several important things we need to see, in terms of the actual value in doing this.
A. You need to fully and formally recognize what has taken place.
Chances are really high, that your life is like mine, and rest of humanity in that there have been some really painful or difficult things that you’ve experienced AND there may have been some really joyful or marvelous things that you’ve experienced.
B. You need to learn from pivotal experiences (whether you perceive them to be very good or not).
Patterns have emerged of what has been MOST effective and
those that have been LEAST effective.
These learning’s are absolutely invaluable!
C. You need to apply those learning’s first to your interior life (your mind) and then your exterior one (your behavior.)
Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made and it was very good”.
Proverbs 27:23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;
1 Timothy 4:16 “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
A simple process to use for a Year-End Review
Get away to a quiet place where there are no distractions. This could be your backyard… in a park… by a lake, etc. When you get there, turn off your phone! You need to reflect on your life, not respond to other’s lives.
Pull out a journal (either a paper one or a digital one) and write out these 9 questions and your reflective answers to them.
- If this past year were a movie, which genre would it fall into?
Was your life this past year like a sci-fi movie? Or more like a comedy… or adventure… or like an intense drama?
- What are the specific things that you feel gratitude for?
Upon the most honest reflection, one will quickly see that most of life has been pure gift. What are those gifts? What should be your response to them?
- What are several major themes that seemed to emerge from the year?
For most of us, we have multiple experiences but most of them could be boiled down into 2-3 themes that seemed to have been recurring.
- What did you accomplish this past year that you were the most proud of?
What are numerous things, that required effort and intentionality on your part, that seemed to produce some goodness in your life and in the lives of others?
- What did you feel that you could have been acknowledged for but weren’t?
This is often a big one, because it happens to us all. But when we ‘bury’ hurt over important things that we did, that no one seemed to notice, this can lead to bitterness in our lives.
- What regrets or disappointments did you experience?
There are always things that happen in our human lives, that didn’t go our way! Some of these things might include: goals or dreams that never materialized; things that you had hoped would change or turn around; etc.
- What do you feel was missing from this past year?
Often times when we reflect back on our lives, we wish we would have included more of certain things or people in our lives.
- What were the major life lessons you learned?
A very important thing to motivate us is that:
“Whatever we don’t learn from, we’re destined to repeat it.”
- What do you need to say to God in response to all of this? What might He want to say to you?
All of these questions can help you do a better job of bringing a whole year’s worth of experiences to some sort of completion. And from the process itself, your future can be better empowered instead of getting sabotaged again.
When can you schedule such a review?
To find out more, listen to this podcast in its entirety by clicking on the play button located at the top of this post.
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Thank you for your transparency, proud to be a part of this journey , enjoying today’s technology that allows me to listen while I drive , you are on your way to having your own Sirius channel