The first week of Advent is here, and time to have an annual review. How did you go last week on setting up your Advent plans? This week has two lovely feast days in it: St Nicholas and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I’ll share about those later in the week. But for now, I’d like to invite you to reflect on the year that’s fast coming to an end, and the year ahead.
Annual reviews stop the years flashing past in a blur
It probably feels too early to be thinking about next year. But there’s method in my madness! December is a great time to think about how your year went. Creating space for reflection is an important part of Advent, and looking back over 2023 is a good place to start.
Thinking about what has happened will help you identify things you’d like to keep doing or do different next year (more on that further down). It can also help you feel grateful for the blessings in your year. I know I find it so easy to forget the wonderful things that happened each year. The bad things stick out in my memory, but the nice things tend to fade into the background.
Having this first week of Advent to think about the year helps to re-focus. Rather than rushing from one year to the next, I can take a moment to be grateful for all the good. I can enjoy nostalgia for lovely memories. But I can also see areas that need improvement. It helps me see the places where I didn’t respond as well as I could have to challenges. It shows where I’ve gotten slack with healthy habits or good spiritual practice.
Start thinking about what you want next year to look like
Right, so you’ve looked at your year. You’ve had a nice trip down nostalgia year, celebrated some wins and cringed at some weak spots. Now what?
Now we think about new year’s resolutions!
Well, not exactly. I’m not talking about setting goals like ‘watch less TV’ or ‘lose three kilos’. Nothing wrong with those, of course. But in this week, think about next year on a more macro scale. What do you want next year to be like? What’s the overarching goal? Once you know what that is, all the other, more specific, goals fall out of that.
I find it helps to break things down into some general categories. You might have something like Faith, Family & Friends, Health and Wealth. For each category you can ask questions like:
- What do you want to work on in your faith life next year?
- How do I want to live out my relationships with family and friends? What areas are strong and where could I do better?
- How is my health? Are there things I can change next year to be more healthy?
- What are our financial goals for the next year? Is there something we’re saving up for, something we’re paying off, or a large expense we need to factor in?
The idea is to understand on a wide scale where you want next year to go. Then, you can start thinking about the measurable and achievable steps you need to take to get there.
We make plans and God laughs: a word of caution on annual reviews
I love a plan, in case you haven’t guessed. But the reality of life is that we have limited control. You can make the most water-tight plan in the world and things will still come undone. This annual review is not about controlling every aspect of your life. That’s impossible.
Creating a plan and reflecting on the past are good things. I believe they can genuinely help you progress to being a better person. They help you move towards virtue and build gratitude for all that you have. But you need to be open to change.
Leave room in all your plans for God. Ask Him what He wants you to be doing and what lessons He has for you in the year that’s been. This plan should be a God-centred framework for the year ahead, not an immovable wall around your goals.
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