Reflect. Review. Renew.: The Quick Guide to Your 2022 Unwind

We’re in the final weeks of 2022, and what a year it’s been! We’ve had our share of ups and downs, wins and losses, and, most importantly, lessons learned. Soon, you’ll share laughs and lots of cheer with your friends, families, and co-workers as you begin wrapping up your business for the year and preparing for a successful 2023. As you transition into the holiday season and the new year ahead, I want to share with you three simple things you should do in the coming weeks to prepare for your “next” and celebrate your successes.

Reflect

Reflecting is a critical first step in your 2022 unwind. Its focus isn’t on external things like your bills, promotions you may or may not have received, or any other outward-facing factor. When you reflect, you are looking inward to examine?yourself. Ask yourself about your overall wellness this year—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. What things excited you? What frustrated you? What brought you joy? When you pause to look at yourself in your mental mirror and give yourself space to be honest and raw, you’ll discover many beautiful things that you may have glossed over in the busyness of the year. I’m confident that when you pause to genuinely reflect, you’ll look back and see how much you’ve grown over the last 12 months. If you find it hard to examine yourself critically, with love, find a friend or family member whom you trust to go through the exercise with you.

Once you’ve given yourself ample time to look at yourself, create a SWOT analysis. What were your strengths? What were your perceived weaknesses? Where are some of your growth opportunities? What are the things that threaten your preferred future for yourself? Next, you’ll want to find ways to double down on those strengths, capitalize on the opportunities, improve on your weaknesses, and work to eliminate the threats.

Review

You may ask yourself, “What’s the difference between reflecting and reviewing?” Reflecting is the critical examination of one’s inner person—thoughts, character, and habits. Reviewing, however, moves the focus from the inside and places it externally. This is where you pause to take inventory of your environment, your associations, and the outcome of your energy outputs, to name a few. This is when you look at your work and assess whether it was the best work you could have produced. Are the projects on which you’ve worked, or the friends and colleagues you’ve associated with, in line and on par with who you are, who you want to be, and who you’re becoming? Are your deliverables consistent with the goals you’ve stated?

More likely than not, we’ll find that we all have room for improvement. But this is also the space where you celebrate your wins. Did you put yourself in uncomfortable positions to grow? Did you seek out a mentor and benefit from the relationship? Did you smash a goal that you set for yourself and exceed expectations? Whatever wins you find in your review, double down on that in 2023. Do more. Be more. Dream more. You’ll find that as you focus on the positive attributes you discovered in your reflection and pair them with the wins in your review, you’ll see that you already have all the tools you need to succeed in 2023. Remember, you must shed what no longer serves you and embrace what brings out the best.

Renew

No matter what your wins and losses columns look like for the year, know this: you won because you survived. Give yourself space for grace and room to grow in the coming year. The best way to do this is to renew yourself. Jesus illustrated the importance of renewal when entering a new season when he told his disciples, “You cannot put new wine into old wineskins. If you do, they’ll burst.” The same is true for you, your wellbeing, and your future leadership success. You must take time to heal, refresh, and reset to get back in the game and be better than ever.

Everyone spends the holiday season differently. Some people take the entire month off, some just a few weeks, and others only a few days. Regardless of the time you set aside to renew, make sure it’s?quality?time. Being intentional about your renewing period will help you bring a positive mindset, fresh ideas, and contagious optimism to your workplace and home.?

Here’s to a successful 2022 unwind in preparation for a phenomenal 2023!