How we’re nearing the end of 2022, we’re not totally sure. This year seems to be flying for our team and clients, and we’re in full-on planning mode for 2023 as we write this! Today’s post is a lot about year-end reflection and why it’s so important for your career and progress.
Reflection is the first step toward self-awareness. It allows you to build control over your conscious and unconscious patterns and habits, putting you in the driver’s seat of your life.
And these days, self-awareness is one of the top indicators of whether or not you’ll be a successful leader or team member, or achieve what you want. Dr. Tasha Eurich shared in a Harvard Business Article that “Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively… We are better workers who get more promotions. And we’re more-effective leaders with more-satisfied employees and more-profitable companies.”
So, how do you start? We have all the prompts you need below.
23 Year-End Reflection Prompts
You can journal your responses by putting pen to paper, adding a OneNote tab within your personal development notebook, or even starting a folder of voice notes where you speak your answers. The key is adopting the format that works best for you. A format that you know you’re going to utilize and come back to in the future.
Uncover Your Passions & Desires
What activities or to-dos on your daily schedule light you up the most? Why do you feel they light you up? Which activities or to-dos on your list do you dread and why?
What was your favorite project to complete this year? What was your least favorite? Why?
If you had no limits whatsoever, what do you envision for yourself in the next 6 months? Year? Two years? Five years? What resources do you need to make those happen?
Uncover Your Most Impactful Skills
What do you feel is your greatest strength? Give three examples of why. What skill do you feel you need to develop further? Give three examples of why.
Which meeting, project, or presentation do you feel you delivered the best this year? Which do you think you needed to improve upon most?
Make a list of all your achievements from this year and why they feel like an achievement.
Uncover Your Productivity & Plan
Did you come into this year with goals? How did you do in regard to reaching them? If you fell short, what could you have done differently to achieve them? If you achieved them, what do you think you did well? What do you think you can take from these goals and apply to your 2023 goal-setting?
3 Steps to Turn Reflection into Goals & A Plan for a Successful 2023
Now, reflection is key for self-awareness and progressing your career. But, without goals based on those reflections, you likely won’t get as far.
A study by Harvard Business uncovered that MBA students who wrote their goals down ended up earning 10x those who didn’t write goals down at all by ten years after graduation. So, with these prompts, put some goals down on paper to start working towards what you want to achieve.
So, follow the three steps below to use your reflections for goal-setting for 2023:
- First, celebrate your wins. It’s important to take a moment to look at what you’ve achieved before moving on to the next thing!
- Second, take a look at the commonalities between your responses. Write down a list of your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, based on your responses.
- From there, set some SMART goals that will allow you to build upon your strengths, fill your skills gaps to strengthen your weaknesses, and do more of what you love and less of what you dislike.
A couple of examples may be:
If reflection led you to realize you have a project causing the Sunday Scaries….
Request a 1:1 meeting with my supervisor to discuss my involvement in XYZ project (the one you don’t like). In this meeting to be scheduled in Q1, I will share my thoughts on the project and what I’d like to do more of to enjoy and learn from my participation more. I would like to come out of the meeting with three action items to implement for the duration of 2022.
If reflection led you to realize that you struggle with time management…
I will schedule out my week in advance every week on Monday morning, prioritizing tasks daily based on most impact to least impact. With this, I will time block to ensure that I check off things from my list in priority order.
Professional Coaching Can Help You Strategize for Your Best Year Yet
Doing the journaling and reflection on your own is highly impactful for leveling up in your career and life. But, if you’re ready to invest in yourself, your career, and your success, professional 1:1 career coaching could be exactly what you need to strategize for 2023 to be your best year yet.
With 1:1 support, you can ask the tough questions, gain third-party support from seasoned professionals, and create a plan to achieve everything you desire and more. Let’s chat about how NimblyWise can support you in the new year!
