We have templates for quarterly, and now annual reviews. Monthly review templates are coming next! Enjoy.
Do you do an annual review?
I began doing annual reviews in 2010, and it’s been critical for my business and personal growth. Every year, I take the time to reflect back on the past year, look to the year ahead, and consider what’s changed and how I’ve grown (or not).
This year, it’s a little different, because I’m 9 weeks postpartum and I’ve barely got time to keep myself and my kiddos fed, let alone do a full annual review. Nonetheless, I wanted to share my process for review, (as well as a post on how to do a simpler reflection if you’re in a period of your life, like I am, where long-term planning is harder to do.)
My annual review template: 10 questions for reflection
If you’d like to reflect on the year past, I invite you to join me, and I’ve written out the key questions below. I recommend taking around an hour to journal, reflect, and write (long-hand, if possible, because it lends itself more easily to sketching and drawing). Sometimes this process takes me down a bit of a rabbit hole, too, as I start to dig through past journals and to-do lists and notes, and take stock of what has changed—and what hasn’t—and where I ended up.
1: Dreams.
What did I want at the beginning of the year?
2: Milestones.
What were the major milestones of the year?
3: Reflections.
What went well? What was hard? What didn’t go so well? What surprised me?
4: Growth.
How have I changed as a person?
5: Gratitude.
When I look back, what am I grateful for?
6: Unfinished.
What do I still want that feels unfinished?
7: Analysis.
What do my monthly reports tell me? (Each month I craft a monthly report, even if it takes me until the 15th of the month to actually do, and looking back at these notes is highly revealing.)
8: Education.
What books did I read? Which ones were the most pivotal? What else did I learn? What learning was the most/least effective?
9: People.
What people did I meet? Which relationships were the most important, influential, or meaningful? What relationships do I want to change?
10: Looking Ahead.
What do I want for next year? How will I know once I’ve achieved it? And if I could only do, get, or be one thing this upcoming year, which one would it be?
Now, I’d love to hear from you! Let me know in the comments what process you use for an annual review, and what you’ve learned by doing it.
One of the most important things you can do in your business life is take a little time to plan ahead for the future, and reflect on what’s happened, so you can grow.
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