Plan With Me: 2020 Year-End Review Process and Printables
Theme: Lanterns and light
It’s mid-December, so we’re all excited to plan and set goals for next year! But before you set new goals (or if it’s your first time setting annual goals), it’s important to review this year so you understand what went well, what didn’t go well, what’s in your control, and determine steps forward to drive your annual goals.
I’ve recently seen a lot of people start to plan for 2021. And oh gosh, yes, I’m ready for 2021 too! Please, please, get me out of this year! But even though it can be tempting to jump straight into optimism for the new year, I don’t want to skip an important aspect of setting goals, and that’s to review the recent data and past year.
I know what you’re thinking: “Liz, 2020 was a disaster, there’s nothing to review.” Well, hold on a second. I think there’s value in looking back, even if this year was such an anomaly. So let’s break it down and take a look at this past year so we can learn from it and better plan for next year.
To do this, I created some printables (!) from my bullet journal, but to be honest you could also do this on a sheet of paper or on your computer. The printables are hand-drawn and I kept them rough and stylized rather than going for a perfectly polished look and were created for A5 size notebooks (basically 5x7 aspect), but since they’re PDFs they can be scaled to fit your preferred paper size.
So! Without further ado, let’s get into the analysis of 2020.
1) What went well?
Even through hardship, find your personal successes.
We may want to just black out this whole year from our memory (damnatio memoriae 2020!), but the truth is that we lived through this year, so we might as well find the good things that happened. I bet for most of us, if we think about it, we probably adapted and made some steps forward that might surprise us. Or even if it feels like nothing good happened in our lives this year, at the very least we can say, “I made it to the end of the year, and now I am stronger and more resilient.” That, I think, is one heck of a success, so give yourself some credit for your wins.
Go ahead and take a note right now of all the successes from this year. If you’re stumped, here are some ideas:
Slowed down and prioritized family
Picked up a new hobby
Celebrated a milestone
Read a lot of books
Did more yoga and/or strength training
Survived
What are some things this year that brought you joy — no matter how big or small?
2) What didn’t go well?
Understanding past pain points can help us better recognize potential pain points in the future.
On the flip side of things that went well, we should also acknowledge what…well…didn’t go so well. Practically speaking, there is nothing about January 1, 2021 that will make it distinctly different than December 31, 2020. We don’t flip a switch and suddenly the pandemic is over and our year is inherently “good.” Yes, a vaccine is on the horizon, but it will be a while before things are back to normal. So with that in mind, how can we assess our current situation and determine what isn’t working so that we can get through the next six to twelve months? (Because oh gosh I’m hoping that a year from now we’re mostly in the clear!) This, I think, is crucial to making the next few months bearable as the vaccines roll out.
Be honest with yourself, but DON’T pass judgement! This is not an exercise in beating ourselves up, but just trying to be mindful and acknowledge what has happened. Go ahead and jot down some ideas right now. If you need help, here are some ideas, but please make a list that fits you:
Pandemic happened
Social injustices and racial inequality were blatantly obvious
Working from home was hard/affected my work
Quarantine affected my health in some way (including physical, mental, and emotional health)
Remote learning was a challenge
Couldn’t see family/friends (aka experienced social isolation)
Experienced anxiety/depression
Disrupted routine and/or plans for the year
Okay, so there are lots and LOTS of possibilities for the list, but like I said, try not to dwell on how horrible the year has been. Instead, as you’re making your list, think about why some of these things happened and how you felt about it. It’s okay to not be okay, and we can take a minute to accept that.
3) What was and was not within your control?
Out of the things you identified that went well and did not go well, what were things that you had direct or indirect control over?
This is something that is often overlooked, but it’s something I think is important, particularly this year. For the positive and negative items on your list, spend a few minutes thinking about why they happened, and whether you had any control or influence over them. There are so many things that seem completely out of our control this year, so as we assess the successes and pain points, we should determine what sort of influence we do and don’t have on those items. So for the items you identified in #1 and #2, I recommend going back and categorizing them as follows:
Within my control
What are things that you have complete control over? Maybe you can control how much time you spend doom-scrolling or what time you go to bed. Maybe a positive thing that happened is you started doing yoga every morning as part of your wake-up routine; it’s important to know what exactly is in your control so that you can focus on that.
Within my influence
What are things that you don’t have complete control over, but your actions can make a difference? Okay, I admittedly struggle with this because I’m perhaps too optimistic (and driven by a sense of guilt) about what all I could be doing if I made enough effort, but keep it reasonable — what can you reasonably influence? And with that in mind, what direct actions can you take to create this influence and bring it more under your control? Conversely, what are some things that you just need to accept and let go?
Outside my control and influence
What are things that you absolutely have no control over? That said, I want to really challenge you on this topic: are things really and truly out of your control, or are there things you can do to be proactive and influence these larger issues? For example, can you get involved in your community as an advocate? Can you set a better example for yourself or your family? Or, perhaps you’re caught in a cycle of self-punishment and guilt; if that’s the case, what are things in this category that you can let go and learn to accept as outside your control?
If you’re doing this on paper, you can color-code the items with highlighters or mark them with symbols. Or you can use the three concentric circles and organize each item into the appropriate circle. Organizing your lists into these circles is a nice touch because you may be able to visualize items that can move inward or outward depending on your personal actions.
4) How to improve?
Synthesizing all the information gathered, how can we have a better 2021?
First, what are good habits that you do already to continually support your successes? Second, what are things that you can do to improve the things that didn’t go well? This is where you can identify proactive measures to move things into different circles. Where can you find acceptance? Where can you make a difference? What actions can you take to move towards acceptance or making a difference? Before jumping into your 2021 goals, take a look at this section and use this synthesis to drive actionable goals in the new year.
5) What to focus on in 2021?
Based on this brainstorming, what do yo want to focus on in the next year?
If you’re at all like me, you probably have a gazillion things listed by now for how to improve and what to do. This is your chance to narrow your focus: what are the most important things that you want to prioritize for the next year? Do you want to pick a few things from #4 to drive your goals for next year? Or are there things you dream of that are totally missing from these worksheets that you want to bring into focus in the new year? This is your chance to use these reflections to frame up your intentions (and ergo goals, which we’ll get to in another post) for 2021.
Summary and Printables
One of the things I like about this type of year-end review is that you can do it even if you haven’t been in the habit of setting yearly goals. Or, if you often set goals, it can be helpful for you to provide context for those goals. So often I’m focused only on whether or not I achieved the goals I set in the previous January, but if that happens you may be blind to the things in your life outside of those goals. By doing this review, we may be able to identify areas where we can be more proactive or where we want to focus on in the next year.
If you liked the spreads I made, you can download the PDF printables from Patreon!
Let’s celebrate — what are some of your successes from 2020? Let me know in the comments! I’d also love to hear how this helped you reflect on 2020 and plan for 2021, and I’m always happy for feedback on the printables!
Bees and clover
Is anyone else just so ready for spring?! I was mulling over what I wanted to do for my March bullet journal for a while and kept thinking about spring and St. Patrick’s Day and wishing the cold rain would stop so I could get out into my garden. And I kept coming back to this idea of bees and clovers — so I ran with it! I love this month’s design, and I hope you enjoy it too!