As 2022 comes to a close, you may be asking yourself, “why should I do a year end review?”. Even for those who spend time each year reflecting, sometimes it can be difficult at the end of the year to find the time and space to think about the year gone by. While I can certainly understand the challenge, I hope you are able to find even an hour to take stock in your wellbeing and set the stage for a great year ahead.
Reflection Focus Areas – Dimensions of Wellbeing
About 7 years ago, I began to focus on the 8 dimensions of wellbeing in the chart below for my annual reflection on the year as it comes to a close. There are different frameworks out there, but I was drawn to this one. The eight dimensions started as a part of the positive psychology movement back in the 1980’s. Originally, there were five categories that grew to the eight over time. In this article, you can see how the University of Maryland defines each of the categories.
Over time, I’ve taken the eight areas and adapted the definitions slightly to help myself and those I coach to think about wellbeing and goal setting.
Questions to Consider
As you reflect back on 2022, below are 20 questions – 2 for each wellbeing dimension and four overall – that will help you consider the impact this year has had on your overall wellness.
- Occupational – What career accomplishments am I the proudest of this year?
- Occupational – What in my professional life worried me and kept me up at night?
- Physical – What did I do this year to improve my physical wellbeing?
- Physical – Did I make any choices that negatively impact my physical wellbeing?
- Environmental – If I had to choose a word to describe my home this year, what would it be?
- Environmental – What did I do this year to improve my home (new, rearranged, or organized)?
- Intellectual – What book(s), shows, podcasts, etc. expanded my knowledge this year?
- Intellectual – What was a new interest I discovered this year?
- Emotional – This year, what three emotions were most present in my life?
- Emotional – What and/or who triggered stress for me this year?
- Financial – Did I manage my finances in a way that makes me proud? Why / why not?
- Financial – Looking at my purchases, what was the best thing I bought? The worst??
- Social – How did my relationships with my family and friends evolve?
- Social – What communities were important to me (friends, work, online, neighborhood)?
- Spiritual – What did I do this year that I would consider to be self-care?
- Spiritual – Who or what challenged my worldview or faith?
- Overall – How am I different this year than I was at this time last year?
- Overall – What advice would I give my last-year self about the year ahead?
- Overall – What new habits did I develop this year (positive and/or negative)?
- Overall – What 3 words best describe my 2022?
My Perspective – A Workbook to Dive Deeper
The questions above are a great foundation to reflect on the year that has passed so you can have perspective on what you might want to change or improve in 2023. Over the years, I have dug deeper into each of these areas and developed additional questions to gain insight.
That deeper dive has been turned into a workbook for anyone who also wants to spend some additional time reflecting on the year. In the workbook there is a page dedicated dedicated to each of the eight wellbeing dimensions and about 10 questions on each page. At the end, there is a summary of potential next steps you could take as you head into 2023.
The workbook is located in my Etsy shop – here.
Your Turn
How do you react to the questions above? Were they easy or difficult to answer?
What have you been reflecting on as 2022 comes to a close?
Do your answers to the questions shift what you are thinking for the new year?
While there are things you likely would like to leave behind in 2022, I hope you have also found things you are grateful for.
Best wishes as you reflect back on your year!!