reflections

Three weeks (that's 21 days!) are left in 2024.

Even though I'm sort of frantically getting ready for Christmas (the kids will be back next weekend), I've been reflecting on 2024 - it's blessings, it's challenges, what I might change or do differently, what I did that made me proud.

Do you ever find that no matter how hard you work or how much you accomplish, you end up focusing on everything you didn’t do or you could have done better? That's what humans do. Sometimes we get so fixated on what we didn’t do that we become blind to all we did do. Think about what made you the most proud of yourself, the small ways you've improved yourself over the last year and write it down. Take a minute to reread and celebrate all that happened over the last 365 days. Then, take all those successes and brainstorm what you want to make happen in the year ahead. 

Some questions, a little food for thought, from Psychology Today may spark some food for thought now and ideas for the new year:

1. What was a new discovery you made this year? What did you discover that you loved? 
2. What was one of the biggest pleasant surprises you experienced during the year? 
3. What achievement are you most proud of from this year? (If you find it hard to recall, try thinking back to each season of the year. For instance, what did you achieve during winter, spring, summer, fall?)
4. What was your favorite purchase of the year and why? 
5. What was a new habit or routine you created this year that has improved your efficiency at home or work? This can be really small or it can be big. 
6. What did you face head-on this year rather than avoiding? 
7. What did you ask for help with this year where you're glad you did?
8. What relationship was the biggest positive surprise to you this year? 
9. Who do you need to thank for their role in your life this year?
10. What's an aspect of self-regulation you've gotten better at this year? (anything from going to bed earlier, using moisturizer, putting your appointments on your calendar so you don't forget, or eating more vegetables).
11. What's a goal you gave up on this year, and you're glad you did that because objectively it wasn't your highest priority?
12. What's a skill you have gained confidence with this year?
13. What simple pleasures have you especially enjoyed this year?
14. What was a goal for the year that you followed through on, or partially followed through on?
15. What's a type of technology you've integrated into your life this year and it's working out well for you? 
16. What did you change your mind about this year?
17. What did you try that didn't work out, but the process of trying it moved your thinking forward in a helpful way?
18. How did your self-perception change this year? In what ways have you started to see yourself more positively than you did previously? 
19. What's a thinking bias you've become aware of this year? 
20. How has what you enjoy shifted this year?