It’s Time for a Year-End Review!

When December rolls around, we all know how important it is to take time to look back and evaluate the year. Many find it challenging to make time for this exercise because it (not so helpfully) coincides with the holiday season.

For some, it can be challenging to know where to start. I want to share some of my favorite tips for reviewing your year, identifying highlights, and preparing goals for next year.?

A point of clarification: This isn’t just about work or your business. It can be about your personal life as well. Anywhere you set a goal is an area to take time to review.?

First, let me acknowledge that the ideal situation is to keep a running list of your achievements throughout the year. I will admit that while I encourage you to do that, I haven’t always been good about doing it myself. However, 2025 will be one of the years that I will keep this list – because I didn’t in 2024. And to keep us both accountable, I plan to remind you about it throughout the year.?

If you need to start gathering your list, I find the best place to start is a brain dump. Just start getting stuff out of your head and “on paper.” That can mean typing it into a document or physically writing it out – whatever works best for your brain.??

If you're getting started and can’t think of a single accomplishment for the year, don’t panic! It’s perfectly natural to freeze up when you are trying to create something that feels important. And what’s more important than evaluating your year??

Try thinking about things in categories. If you are focusing on accomplishments at work, think about what you did as an individual separately from what you did as a team member. Or, look at it in terms of areas of responsibility or different projects.?

Don’t censor yourself as you are getting everything out on paper. Many people tend to think, “That’s not really that important,” when things pop into their heads. Sure, some things may seem “bigger” than others, but don’t judge at this point.?

After I have done a first pass, I find it helpful to scroll through the calendar and see if some of the events from the year help me think of other things to add. If you use a project management system (like Asana or Trello), make sure you reference it when finding things to put on your list.?

Once you have done all this, I bet you will be pretty impressed with your list. Now it is time to start evaluating and grouping. Your goal here is to come up with a new list of accomplishments. You may find that in your brain dump you have multiple entries related to the same achievement. That’s okay - just combine them.??

When you have finished creating your new list of achievements, here is the really important part:

1. Stop and really soak in all that you have accomplished.
2. Pat yourself on the back.
3. Give yourself high fives and kudos.

Most of us are so hard on ourselves that we rarely do this. You have probably had a far more successful year than you even realized. Good for you!??

Now that you have your list and have celebrated your successes, the next step is to look at the list from a few different perspectives.

Start with balance. Did you spend too much time in one area and not enough in another? For travel entrepreneurs, there is usually an imbalance between working in the business (being the travel advisor) and working on the business (being the business owner). This is never a 50/50 split, but if you don’t spend some of your time focused on business management, you may find you don’t have anything to manage.??

Another way to look at this list is to focus on how you prioritized things throughout the year. How much of what you accomplished is because it is what you wanted to do? Another thing humans (and particularly women) tend to do is to prioritize what other people deem important over what they think is important. You have a limited number of hours in a year and therefore can only accomplish so much. For 2025, I encourage you to determine your priorities and focus on what is important to you.?

The reality of work life is that very few people are 100% in control of their days and what they do from moment to moment. Whether it is team members, clients, or bosses, there is usually someone dictating what they feel is a priority for you. That’s why it is critical that you create your own list of priorities and goals and revisit them frequently. It helps keep you centered and on course.??

This year-end review is one of the best ways to set priorities for the next year. When you look at your list, think about what you want more and less of. What muscles didn’t you use enough, and which ones were overworked? Most importantly, what got you excited, and what drained you???

This exercise is not just about the things you did, it’s also about how all this makes you feel. Work occupies far too much of our lives for it to be a slog. If you get to the end of the year and this review makes you realize you are out of alignment with who you are or what you want to do, then create a plan for change. What needs to be different in 2025 for it to be a better year than 2024? If you are an entrepreneur, it may mean hiring to have someone else do what isn’t the best use of your time. If you are an employee, it may mean changing teams, bosses, or even companies.

Nothing happens by magic – you have to know what you want and make a plan to get there.??

Throughout 2025, I will check in and share tips I’ve learned, and I would love to hear from you as well. What works for you for reviewing one year and preparing for the next? Share in the comments, and we can all grow and improve together. We can do this!??