3 Meaningful Exercises to Help You Reflect on 2019

How’d 2019 go?

This can be a tough question to answer. Sometimes we might even be scared to look back. However, no matter how difficult or successful the past year has been, I’ve got some great journaling exercises that will help you distill the meaning of what happened and propel you into a better future.

The time has come to heal the wounds and discover the gems. Try these on for size!

1.      Title the Months

This is especially valuable if when looking back over the year, you just have no idea what to say. Imagine this year was a book with 12 chapters. What would the chapters be called? (Not January, February, March, etc.) Go back over them and name them after emotions, symbols or events to get the general theme of what happened. Then back that theme up with three or four bullet points based on what you remember about the month.

This exercise gives you a bird’s eye view of what happened this year, allows you to feel into the emotions (so you can release them for a new year) and helps you to sharpen your memory and recognize patterns. If you’ve blocked out a month, check back in your email, or journal or planner. What happened? What new perspectives and lessons can you draw from your findings?

2.      Understand the Past Decade (or Decades)

That’s right! We’re not only changing years, we’re changing decades. Woohoo!  Here’s an exercise I do regularly because sometimes the most meaning comes from the biggest challenges. Let’s go back and dig that up. It can have the after-effect of building tremendous confidence and actually make you grateful for your struggles. Answer the following questions:

·        What are the three biggest obstacles you’ve overcome in the past decade or decades?

·        How did you get through them? What were the interior and exterior resources you used?

·        What positive changes happened in your life after you gained that strength?

One of the most the important takeaways I noticed from this exercise is that several times in my life, I’ve been in a high-stress situation for an extended period of time, and then I’ll experience a quantum leap where my life dramatically changes for the better: a career jump, a birth, a big move, a marriage, etc. However, by doing this exercise, I noticed that the quantum leap happens not in the midst of the effort, but during a period of rest. I will put in the effort and take a step back to allow everything to come together. I never would have noticed that if I hadn’t written it all out.

3.      Remember When You Were the Person Who Wanted What You Have Now.

In the last two exercises, we took stock. This is the culmination. As a result of everything you’ve done in life, what are you grateful to have now? What do you want to take with you as we move into the next year/decade? Get your appreciation in here.

Once you’ve thoroughly cataloged what you love about your life, notice what you’re ready to let go of as well… jealousy, resentment, procrastination, clutter. What patterns have held you back?

If you love journaling and reflecting, I hope you have as much fun with this as I do. Honestly, it’s been one of the most important tools for me in living a fulfilling and adventurous life.