Reflection before New Year Resolution
Do you ever notice that most retail shops changed their decoration to that of the Chinese New Year theme on Christmas Day? We are going to say goodbye to the year 2018 and usher in 2019 in barely a week’s time!
Is strange, is it peculiar to me only that Dec 31 feels so different from 1 Jan? It is less than 24 hours apart! In December, I have a strong compulsion to answer one important question, which is ‘What had I done for the whole year?’ If I don’t do this quickly in the last week of December, I will be swamped by activities in the coming new year and I would have no time to look back!
Here are the few areas that I stop and reflect on:
- Family – Have I spent enough time with them and put them first?
- Health – Is my exercise regime on target? How am I doing in my physical and mental health?
- Social – Have I proactively kept in touch with my friends and maintain the relationship?
- Self-development – Have I become a better person? What are the areas of growth and development achieved?
- Community giveback – What are the contributions for the year I had made?
- Business/Career development – What are the key milestones that I had accomplished?
Guess what, all the photos, collages, and electronic scrapbooks you had created earlier can be put to use. I will consolidate the highlights in collages on one page so that I can have a bird eye view of the year. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to recall the year’s activities, understand where my time and effort had gone, and reminisce and reflect generally about my life in the past year.
It is a visual way for me to close off the year, for me to check how I am doing against my current New Year Resolutions. It provides a good framework for me to focus on the goals and resolve actions for the coming New Year Resolutions. It gives me a great sense of gratitude, feel thankful to the people around me and decide on my transformation agenda.
If anything, it helps me to declutter my photos, distil the highlights and keep what is significant. I am not sure if this work for you, however, most importantly do what keeps your soul happy!