10 Ways To Reflect Back On 2023
With the closing of December, each year comes the time where we can each take some much needed time for being with our loved ones, celebrating the success of this current year and also take the time to look ahead into the adventures and plans that will accompany us in the new year.
Today I wanted to provide you with a concise yet practical framework for how you can look back on 2023, or any year as a matter of fact, as see for yourself how you have grown, changed or improved and what changes you still want to strive for and in what direction you want to channel your energy and effort into.
Reflecting is a fundamentally useful skill as it allows us to evaluate our past - our thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, habits, challenges and successes - the good and the bad, and from there lay a foundation to what we still want to achieve; to what still drives us forwards.
Feel free to answer the questions below with as much or as little detail as you find useful as this is primarily meant as a personal reflection exercise for yourself and your own journey this year.
I hope you find it useful 😊
TIPS FOR YOUR PERSONAL REFLECTION
When doing this reflection it might be helpful to keep the following things in mind:
This exercise, depending on how in depth you do it, will take you anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour, so make sure to set an appropriate amount of time to the side.
Try to find a quiet non disruptive place to do this in, to make it easier to reflect back and keep your thoughts collected.
You can do this on paper or digitally, whatever suits you best.
Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, but just try to keep it as more of an open and honest reflection of your thoughts and experiences of this year.
EVALUATING YOUR 2023
Milestones & Highlights
What were some major milestones that you accomplished this year, no matter how big or small?
What kind of effect did reaching these milestones have on you?
What were your personal favorite highlights and best memories of the year?
Challenges Overcome
Which challenges were you able to overcome?
How did you overcome these challenges? What worked best?
Were there challenges you didn't manage to yet overcome and why?
Personal Growth & Development
In what ways have you change grown or improved as a person and individual since last year?
How have you changed based on the following aspects: Habits, behaviors, patterns of thought, mindsets, self talk and beliefs? What from this was most effective in fueling this growth?
Professional/ Academic Growth
How have you grown or advanced in your academic or professional life?
What methods or techniques allowed for growth in these areas?
Unfulfilled Goals & Aspirations
What were some goals which you didn't manage to achieve this year?
Why do you think you haven't been able to achieve them yet?
If you would like to still go after these goals, what do you have to do or change in order to achieve them?
Surprises
What was something that surprised you this year? It could be an event, something you learnt, a person you met or something you did yourself.
Self Care
How did you take care of your mental, physical and emotional health in 2023?
What methods worked best for taking care of these aspects of health? Which methods or habits didn't work so well?
What specific aspects of your health would you still like to work on for the next year?
Relationships
How have your relationships changed or evolved in 2023?
Which new relationships or friends have you established in 2023?
Were there some relationships which you removed from your life because they were no longer serving you?
Gratitude & Learning Lessons
Name at least 10 things for which you are grateful in the year 2023?
What were some main learning lessons which this year has thought you and which really stuck with you?
How will you implement these learning lessons in the upcoming year?
Looking forward
What changes or improvements do you want to make in 2024 based on the following categories: Health, relationships, academics/ career, habits, personal aspirations and finances?
Are there any new areas in your life which you want to explore more?
What kind of person do you want to be in 2024? Think about your energy, the way you interact with people, your habits, your mindsets and beliefs
Books I Will Be Reading In 2023
In the last post we have discussed all of the best books I have read in the year 2022, so I wanted to dedicate this post to all of the books which I am planning on reading for this year, for which I have in mind 15 so far.
As always, I would love to hear your own book recommendations and to hear on what you are aiming on reading for this year.
I hope you enjoy 😊 📚
BENEFITS OF READING MORE
Although I have talked about the benefits of a consistent reading routine before in this blog post, here are the main ones which I wanted to highlight for you to know about:
Reading Prevents Neurodegenerative Diseases: These conditions include dementia such as Alzheimers where reading readily stimulates our brains activity and enhances its synaptic connectivity, helping to keep our brains active and young while preventing cognitive decline. As well as keeping your brain healthy, reading also aids in better memory retention and brain functioning, which also helps slow down the development of dementia by keeping your brains clear of beta amyloid plaques which over time build up an cause memory decay in Alzheimers.
Improves Your Vocabulary and General Knowledge: Reading has for a long time now been shown to steadily improve vocabulary, spelling as well as greatly enhance the general knowledge and understanding of the world around you. This is also why reading is so encouraged, so that you get to learn about the events happening around you, have a deeper understanding of why certain things occur and with that formulate you own well thought out opinions and perspectives. Reading makes you educated and well informed.
Reduces Stress: Have you ever read for a little bit before going to bed and noticed that you suddenly become very tired and calm? Chances are you have. This is because when we read, we are very focused on the words in front of us which allows us to feel calm helping our body to naturally start releasing melatonin which initiates our body for sleep. This happens especially quickly when we are in a quiet environment with dim warm lighting.
Helps With Calmer Sleep: Because reading can be such a relaxing activity, it is also great for making it easier to fall asleep and generally ensuring a calmer night of sleep. It may also be more beneficial to read on a physical paper back book in the evenings instead of electronic readers as bright lights can disrupt our natural sleep cycles.
Heightens Your Empathy Skills: When we read books, especially those which have a story plot line and different characters, we allow ourselves to become immersed in the story and connect with the different characters. In this way we develop emotions and opinions about certain people in the story which in reality allows us to become more empathetical towards others in our everyday.
Lowers Blood Pressure and Heart Rate: Regular reading has been shown to lower blood pressure and resting heart rate almost as effectively as yoga, which can help with longevity (living longer) as well as keeping your cardiovascular system healthy.
Improved Focus and Concentration: Because reading and following a story requires quite a bit of concentration, reading can be a great activity to help improve how long you can focus for, especially in todays time when we are highly distracted by notifications and live by instant gratification. Reading is a great way to calm ourselves and work on our focus abilities which will help us with our personal, school or work lives.
2023 READING LIST
Bellow you can find all of the books which I am to read for this year, some of which are non fiction and some are fiction.
Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life (Roxie Nafousi)
You Are A Badass At Making Money (Jen Sincero)
The Only Study Guide You Will Ever Need (Unjaded Jade)
Four Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss)
Best Self: Be You, Only Better (Mike Bayer)
The Buddha and The Badass (Vishen Lakhiani)
Smarter Living (Karen Barrow, Karron Skog, and Tim Herrera)
The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win (Jeff Haden)
Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
Food for life: The New Science of Eating Well (Spector)
Your Body In Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health (Neal Barnard)
Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Martin Lindstrom)
8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go (Jay Shetty)
Normal people: A Novel (Sally Rooney)
The Mostly True Story Of Tanner & Louise (Colleen Oakley)
I hope that you were able to find some intereting new information on why it is good for us to read regularly and also that I was able to give you some ideas for books which you could read for yourself in 2023.
Wishing you happy reading :)