Self Review

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A recent FastCompany article provides suggestions for those who have a tradition of writing year-end reviews and are looking to productive in the coming year 2024.

As the year comes to a close, it’s easy to get distracted by deadlines and miss out on valuable opportunities to accelerate our growth. If we don’t take the time to reflect on what’s gone before, we’re more likely to make the same mistakes and less able to apply what we’ve learned going forward.

To take control of your career development, you need to identify and take ownership of what you should do differently in the coming year. So seize this opportunity to press pause to reflect on the last 12 months, play it back to identify what worked and what didn’t, and fast-forward to apply what you’ve learned.

– Harvard Business Review

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) recommends the following three steps to get started with a year-end review:

  • Press Pause: The act of slowing down and reflecting on what worked and didn’t work provide perspectives that will help us move forward. Suggested list of self-answer questions include:
    • When have I learned the most this year?
    • What do I feel most proud of?
    • Who has helped me be at my best?
    • How have my strengths helped me succeed?
    • What’s the one thing I wish I’d done differently?
  • Play It Back: If possible include peers or other people reviewing progress. HBR suggests the play back partners answer the following questions:
    • What three words would you use to describe the last year?
    • What have you found most fulfilling — and most frustrating — over the last 12 months?
    • When do you think you’ve been at your best this year?
    • What confidence gremlins (i.e., beliefs that hold you back) have gotten in your way?
    • What’s the most useful thing you’ve read, watched, or listened to over the year?
  • Fast Forward: Fast-forwarding is how we start to be specific about the commitments we want to make for our development for the future. HBR suggested questions include:
    • One learning goal I will make progress on in the coming year.
    • One habit I will commit to.
    • One person I will have a curious career conversation with.
    • One way I will support someone else.
    • One mistake I won’t make again.

“While the reality of work can feel especially overwhelming at the end of the year, reflection is the key to doing things differently in the year to come. Taking the time to review your year increases your self-awareness and provides insights to improve, which is perhaps the best gift you can give yourself,” Helen Tapper, cofounder and CEO of Amazing If, a company with an ambition to make careers better for everyone, writes in HBR.

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