Closing Time: Why Complete a Year-End Review? (Part 1)
Dec 26, 2023Episode 40
Laurie Reynoldson
One of the best ways to set yourself up for your best year yet is to spend some time completing a comprehensive year-end review! In this 3-episode series, Laurie walks you through her proven year-end review. If you are looking to make 2024 your best year yet, you don't want to miss the Closing Time series.
One of the best ways to set yourself up for your best year yet is to spend some time completing a comprehensive year-end review! In this 3-episode series, Laurie walks you through her proven year-end review. If you are looking to make 2024 your best year yet, you don't want to miss the Closing Time series.
Welcome to the School of Midlife podcast. I'm Laurie Reynoldson, former award-winning attorney turned high performance coach for midlife women. I designed this podcast is your go-to place for weekly midlife inspiration, where I'll be providing step-by-step actionable coaching and introducing you to some incredible women who are absolutely crushing it at the midlife game. Well, Hey there friends. Welcome back to the school of midlife podcast. This is episode one in a short series called closing time. Just like closing time at a bar or restaurant, you know, before you leave for the night, you have to add up the receipts and clean up and restock and get everything set up for the next day. Well, we're doing the same thing at the end of the year, because it's time to close out 2023. And get set up for 2024. The series is full of actionable coaching tips. So you're going to want to download this episode and the. Uh, so it's to come because it's one that you want to come back to and listen to again and again. In this first episode, we're talking about why you should take time this week to complete a year-end review. Let's start by acknowledging that it's the week between Christmas and new year's. I hope everyone out there had a very Merry Christmas. I know the last couple of days where the culmination of a busy holiday season. Church services celebrated gifts opened well shopped for, and then opened after they were perfectly wrapped. Special dinners and brunches cooked and enjoyed. You have had a lot on your plate. So it's been a busy week. It's it's been a busy couple of weeks. But now it's that special, magical week between Christmas and new years. The week when most of us are off work and enjoying some downtime. Recovering from the holidays. It's the week when we're not quite sure which day of the week it is. When you may or may not spend the day in your PJ's like me, or if you are fancy, you might actually get up and get out of your PJ's and change into your fancy lounge wear. But it's a week that most of us spend time. Relaxing and regrouping, reading those books that, you know, we, we bought and we thought for sure, we would read during the course of the year and we haven't yet. So we spend time reading and. Bingeing TV shows and rewatching our favorite movies. But how about this while you're relaxing and catching up on your reading and TV watching? I'd like to suggest that you take some time this week to review your own past year. Was it your best year? Maybe, maybe not. I know most of the people I've talked with are, are pretty happy that this year is coming to a close. For many, it wasn't a bad year. But it also wasn't great. And I think most of us can understand that there is a heaviness. That that went with this year. So even, even though we might not have been impacted by it. Personally. We're we're hopeful. And we are looking forward to 2024. With an expectation that it might be lighter and better than 2023. I guess that begs the question then if it wasn't a great year, why should we spend time looking back on it? I mean, who wants to relive it? Right? I'll let you know that a year and review, we'll do a couple of things. One. You'll probably discover that you've lived a lot of life this year. And it's, it's worth a look back on. Just to figure out what it is you did. How did you spend your time? I promise you that you did more than you think you, you were more successful than you likely have given yourself credit for. And you've also made it through a lot of challenges. So that's the number one reason to do an year-end review. Number two and maybe most importantly, by looking back. You'll start next year. Better than if you just say, go for it. I mean. Think about previous years at the beginning of the year, you probably set some goals. Maybe you made some new year's resolutions and you just started, you just went for it. And more often than not. That means that you have front-loaded January with all the things you want to do in the coming year. Wake up an hour earlier, join a new gym. Start the new workout program. Take on new projects at work so you can finally earn that promotion. Change your eating plan. The list goes on. But for some reason, We think. That the. Best time to make all of these changes is the beginning of a brand new year. For some reason, we think that in order to have a successful year, we need to start at the very beginning of the year. As soon as the calendar changes. And maybe to add a little insult to injury this year. I don't know if you notice, but January 1, 20, 24. Is on a Monday. So for those of you who like to put something off until, you know, something new until the beginning of say a new week, Um, I've got some bad news for you. Because the beginning of the new year. Is also the beginning of a new week. Nothing like having to start. On day one, right? So if any prior year is an indicator of how we typically approach a year. We want to start right now and I get it. I'm, I'm guilty of that too, because once I make my mind up about something, I want to get going right away. But I've also learned that that only works. If I have a solid plan of action. Where am I going? How, where have I come from and where am I going? I, you know, I mean, we all have these ideas that this'll be the year that I run the marathon or this'll be the year that I finally write the book. This will be the year that I, I leave the job that sucking the life out of me or. End the relationship that's run its course. Whatever you have put on your to-do list for next year. I'm going to give you a tip. Looking back on how you spent 20, 23 is going to help you accomplish those goals that you want to achieve. In 20, 24 and it doesn't even have to be goals. It could just be, you want to live 20, 24 in a different way than you have lived. Prior years. It's looking back doing a year-end review. It's exactly the same reason that we study history in school. Because we want to learn the lessons from the past so that we can understand. The present better. It actually helps us shape the future. And it also allows us to learn from past mistakes and even past successes. I mean, I think a lot of us feel like if we're successful, then clearly we've learned the lesson, but oftentimes we learn more. By coming up a little bit short than we do by being highly successful. So have I sold you on a year-end review yet? Have I given you enough reasons to complete your own year end review. I sure hope so. I have done it every year for the past eight or 10 years. And I used to be. I don't know, kind of nonchalant about it. Like I'd fit it in whenever. I had time i'd kind of. Shoe horn it in there there was really no system i use it. You. You. know, Just kind of whatever felt good or whatever seemed like i had enough time to look at and and once i looked back then i was ready to move forward But that changed, probably I'm gonna say five years ago when I actually developed a process and a series of questions. That have made the year-end review one of the most impactful and important things. I do every year to set myself up for a great year. The next year. In the next episode i'll walk you through step one of the year end review All of the episodes in this series are meant to be short and bingeable so that if you have 10 minutes, one day, You can spend 10 minutes starting your year in review. Other days you might have more time than that. Which is great because some of these exercises actually. You're going to find. That they are more meaningful and helpful to you. If you set aside an hour or two to complete them. Are you excited to get started if you are i'll see you in the next episode where i walk you through step one of the year-end review Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the School of Midlife podcast. I'd love it if you would take a moment and leave me a five star review so that we can spread the word to other mid-life women. Then join my mailing list. The link is in the show notes. And if you're ready to make midlife your best life, you can also find out more about how to work with me in the show notes. I'll see you right back here next week when the School of Midlife is back in session.