4 Steps To Intentionally Close Out 2023
I can't believe we are already at the beginning of December with just one month left of 2023. After stuffing myself with delicious turkey last week (which I am proud to say I cooked myself!) I sat down to ponder how I want to close out my year.
Below is my step-by-step end-of-year reflection process that you can use and adapt for yourself. A subsequent post will follow soon with steps for intentionally setting vision and goals for 2024.
PS- don’t miss some fabulous bonus freebies at the end of this post!
Step 1: Sit Down To Ponder
Being intentional about the way you live your life means setting aside time to be thoughtful, reflect, and plan. Pick a time and place that is comfortable and pleasant for you where you will not be disturbed.
Step 2: Identify Your Values And Priorities
What are your top 5 values right now? What are your top 5 priorities? Your values are the beliefs and principles that you believe are important in the way that you live and work. Your priorities are the areas of your life that are most meaningful and important to you right now. Values and priorities may correlate with each other, but they don’t necessarily have to. Also, values and priorities can change over time. That’s not only ok, but is quite normal as we move through the different phases of life and acquire new wisdom along the way.
For example, my top 5 values right now are family, wellness, independence, happiness, and meaningful work. My priorities right now are my personal health and wellbeing, spending quality time with my family, preparing for giving birth and for having a second child, doing inspiring and excellent work, and living my life with a sense of meaning and purpose.
Step 3: Assess Your Alignment With Values And Priorities
To what extent do you feel like you are currently living in line with your values and priorities? One way to do this is to rate each value or priority on a scale of 1-10, as to how present or absent it is in your life. Typically, I tell clients that we like to see alignment at a level of 8-10. For those items that score below 8, first of all, don’t feel bad about that! If everything was perfect all the time, we would have no room for growth and evolution. Low scores are simply a flag or a marker for us to use in intentionally planning our next steps.
If you have values or priorities that are currently out of alignment, ask yourself what you can do in December to boost them and get back into alignment. If you were lucky enough to score high on all of your values and priorities right now, first of all, give yourself a pat on the back! Savor the feeling of being in alignment. And then think about how you will maintain and even possibly elevate that alignment in the month and beyond.
For example, in general I would say I am living in alignment with my values and priorities. I make time and space for self-care and exercise, I spend a lot of quality time with my husband and our daughter, and I have built a pretty solid support system in Portland and have plans for how to continue that once Baby #2 comes. I also greatly enjoy working with all of my clients, and have also started volunteering for a few causes I am passionate about. This month, for example, I plan to start working on advocacy efforts to normalize education and acceptance of formula feeding in baby-friendly hospitals and OB practices, especially for cancer survivors like myself who physically lack the ability to breastfeed.
Ooh I’m enjoying how aligned I feel when I reflect on where I’m at right now!! That being said…there are a few things that could use a little tune up. I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and therefore, I need to reconfigure my diet. I’d also like to continue to make friends and build community in my new hometown so that when I do give birth - in the dead of winter - I have support and community as well as activities to look forward to. To that end, this month I’m planning on making plans with some new friends I’ve met to do some fun holiday activities together.
Step 4: Look Back At 2023’s Goals And Accomplishments
If you’ve been working with me or following me for a while, you may have set some goals for yourself in 2023. If you did not set formal goals, that’s ok too, you can simply use this step to reflect back on what you accomplished this year. Ask yourself, what are you proud of? What did you do well? Where did you encounter challenges? Is there anything you wish you would have done differently?
Remember, it’s not about whether or not you achieved your goals- it’s about whether you achieved alignment with your truth. As I mentioned before, I altered my goals in the middle of the year due to a major change in my life circumstances. I had originally planned to focus this year on growing my business revenue. But I also wanted to get pregnant again and that was more time-sensitive. Getting pregnant and my first trimester turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had anticipated, and as a result I had to scale back to working part time. But when I step back and look at the forest, not just the trees, I still feel proud of what I accomplished this year. I still managed to grow my business: I increased revenue from the prior year, started working with some amazing new clients, and launched my first online course, the LEAP Accelerator. I got featured on the TODAY Show! And most importantly, I am growing my family, taking care of my health, and doing work that I love.
Please feel free to share your reflections with me as well as to ask any questions.
Warm wishes for the start to a delightful holiday season and end of 2023!
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