The Year In Review

The Year In Review

By Steve Pavlina

At the start of each new year, I like to spend about an hour reviewing the previous(ˈprēvēəs) year in my journal(ˈjərnl). I look at each category(ˈkatəˌgôrē) of my life and write a paragraph(ˈparəˌgraf) or two about it. This includes what went right, what went wrong, and what I’d like to do differently in this area(ˈe(ə)rēə) for the upcoming year. Then I give each category an overall rating(ˈrādiNG) on a scale(skāl) of 1-10 for how well I think I did. Here are the categories I currently(ˈkə-rəntlē,ˈkərəntlē) use:

Physical(ˈfizikəl)

Mental(ˈmentl)

Work/Career(kəˈri(ə)r)

Financial(fī-,fəˈnanCHəl)

Marriage(ˈmarij)

Family

Emotional(iˈmōSHənəl)

Spiritual(ˈspiriCHo͞oəl)

Social

Personal Development

Fun

What I like most about this is that I can go back to previous years and look at this same review to see what has changed. For example, 2003 was an overall disappointing year for me; I did well financially, but all the other areas of my life suffered(ˈsəfər). 2004 on the other hand was a tremendous(trəˈmendəs) year in almost every area. I moved to a new city, transitioned(-ˈsiSHən,tranˈziSHən) to a new career, started this new website, lost 17 pounds, joined Toastmasters(ˈtōs(t)ˌmastər), and made many great new friends. In looking back I can see that even the seemingly great years have at least one area that lags(lag) behind, and the tough(təf) years almost always see a positive(ˈpäztiv,ˈpäzətiv) spike(spīk) in some area.

These different categories are all highly interconnected(ˌintərkəˈnekt). It’s usually the weakest(wēk) areas that have the ability(əˈbilədē) to hold back the strongest. For example, if my health isn’t great, that will hold me back financially because I won’t concentrate(ˈkänsənˌtrāt) well enough or have enough energy(ˈenərjē). So sometimes what seems to be the cause of a problem isn’t the true source. Even if you don’t do a full review of your own, I encourage you to at least give each category a 1-10 rating. Then take a look at the weakest areas and see if they could be holding back your strongest ones.

https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/01/the-year-in-review/