How to do an annual review

Look back to move forward.

It's that time of year when our inboxes fill with prompts for annual reviews. Over the years, I've explored different frameworks for reflection, and I'd like to share what I've found most valuable—plus a new experiment I'm trying this year.

How to Create a Meaningful Year-End Review

Step One: Choose Your Mapping Method

I've discovered that different mapping methods reveal different stories about our year. In 2021 and 2022, I used Kate Northrup's Heal the Way You Work framework, which guides you through a rich month-by-month review. For each month, you explore both professional and personal highs and lows, document key learnings, and examine how different areas of your life influenced each other. This detailed timeline approach helped me spot patterns I might have missed, like how certain types of client work energized other areas of my life.

In 2023, I worked with Setema Gali's framework, which takes a different angle. Instead of a timeline, it examines four core domains: physical, spiritual, relational, and financial. This approach helped me see how these fundamental areas of life support and influence each other, revealing blind spots I hadn't noticed before.

For this December's review, I'm experimenting with something new: creating an energy landscape of my year. This involves drawing a simple line graph with months on the horizontal axis and energy levels on the vertical, then plotting the peaks and valleys of my engagement and vitality throughout the year. I'm curious to see what patterns this visual approach might reveal about when and how I do my best work.

Step Two: Examine Through Multiple Lenses

Each framework offers distinct ways to analyze your year. With Kate's approach, you're not just listing events—you're exploring what you learned, identifying your best decisions, and understanding how different life areas interacted. You might notice, for example, that your most innovative work ideas came during months when you had strong boundaries around family time.

Setema's framework digs deep through four powerful questions for each life domain:

  • What worked? (Celebrate the wins and identify successful strategies)

  • What didn't work? (Acknowledge challenges without judgment)

  • What's missing? (Spot gaps and opportunities)

  • What's next? (Identify potential shifts)

When applied to each domain—physical, spiritual, relational, and financial—these questions create a comprehensive view of your life's ecosystem.

For the energy mapping approach, I'm planning to add another layer of analysis by examining my growth edges. I'll create three columns: "What I Learned," "What I Unlearned," and "What I'm Relearning." The first column will capture new skills or insights. The second will acknowledge old patterns or beliefs I've released. The third—often the most revealing—will identify areas where I'm revisiting familiar lessons from a new perspective. I'm curious to see how this framework might honor the cyclical nature of growth and help identify patterns that want to shift.

Step Three: Create Space for Integration

Before jumping into planning (which we'll cover in next week's newsletter!), take time to sit with what you've discovered. What patterns surprise you? What connections do you notice? What feels important to acknowledge? This reflection time allows insights to settle and helps ensure your future planning is grounded in real understanding rather than reactive goal-setting.

One Thing to Ask Yourself:

"Which of these mapping approaches resonates most with how I naturally make sense of my experience?"

One Thing to Try:

Choose one approach and spend 30 minutes this week starting your year-end reflection. Notice which insights feel most valuable to you.

Reflection isn't about judgment—it's about learning. Stay tuned for next week's newsletter, where we'll explore how to transform these insights into meaningful plans for the year ahead.

Until next week,

Lauren