It’s now the end of the year, and before we know it we’ll start everything all over again next year. Before you say goodbye to this year and countdown to the next consider doing these X things:
1. Reflect on the past year
One of the most important things you should do before the year ends is to reflect on the year while it’s still fresh in your mind. This will set you up for the next item, but regardless of whether you set annual goals, it’s always good to look back and appreciate all that the year has brought and all that you’ve done.
You don’t need to go into a lengthy exercise, but at least consider these four questions:
- Did you meet your goals?
- Did you exhibit the character you want?
- Did you grow?
- What are you most thankful for?
2. Set your goals for the next year
As you reflect on your past year, it’s a great time to consider on what you wan to get out of the next year. What are the things you want to accomplish? Start with a slightly longer vision (somewhere between 3-5 years) and define those goals. This will give you clarity before you consider the more near-term goal of the next year. You’ll find that your goals will change slightly (or at least the lens you look at them) when you have a clearer picture on where you want to be in the long term.
3. Nurture your connections
More naturally, you may already be doing this as part of your holiday spirit. But this is a great time to go through your list of family and friends to spend a moment to give thanks to how they’ve supported you throughout the year. It’s easy to go through the entire year and land in the next year without stopping to give thanks to those around you.
Think about how you want to evolve these relationships into the next year. I find it helpful to sit down and draft up a list of people, how they’ve helped you throughout the year, how much you appreciate them, and things you look forward to in the coming year. Writing this in a document first rather than conveying them directly in letters, messages, or phone calls helps you think more holistically about how each person contributed to you. You’ll inevitably have a lot of people you may want to reach out to, doing it without a plan first may mean that you’ll exhaust your energy before you get deep into your list.
4. Cleanse your digital and physical space
nothing beats starting the new year off without excess baggage from the previous year. Take a moment to clear both your digital and physical space.
- Go through your emails, files, folders and organize them. Don’t try to get it perfect, get it to a point where it’s good enough to walk away and still be able to find what you’re looking for.
- Clean up your garage, desk, and major spots. You’ll still have that tree taking up half your living room, but you’ll likely find many things that you just don’t need anymore. Even better, try the minimalist challenge at the start of December.
5. Finish what you started
In the same mindset, if you’re like me, you’ve started a ton of projects throughout the year. Some of which goes years without touching. Take a moment to see if you can finish some of these projects off. If you don’t have any intentions of ever finishing them, discard them. No use keeping them around for next year. The likelihood that you’ll pick it up diminishes over time.
6. Do the boring adult stuff and review the administrative loose ends
There are many things that expire at the end of the year. Take stock of these things and figure out what you need to take care of before the end of the year before you end up losing on benefits. Some examples
- Donations and things to write off on your tax for this tax season
- Take time off
- Sell loser investments to offset gains
- Contribute the maximum to your retirements accounts
- Check your flex spending accounts.
7. Spend some extra time with family
Very likely you’ll have some days off at the end of the year; and hopefully, you choose to spend much of that with the family, because at the end of the year, and the end of our stay here, you won’t regret it.
8. Take care of yourself
And lastly, don’t forget to take care of yourself. Take this time to remind yourself that you’re the most important person to yourself. No one will care about your passions, your goals, your dreams, more than you. Go explore, go discover or rediscover what sparks joy. This hopefully allows you to revaluate your coming year’s goals (mentioned above) and figure out what you really want to get out the next year – no better way than to recalibrate on what’s really important to you. Take care of your mental self, rediscover your passions, and kickstart those workout resolutions earlier by taking care of your physical self.
This list may change for me year from year to year, some years I’ll emphasize some of these more than others – for instance, my kids are young, so extra family time is on the top of my list this year. Nonetheless, use this guide to help you cap off the year and prepare for the next.
