We tend to “reflect” at the end of the year, the end of a big project, or another milestone. 

What if we made reflection a more regular practice – monthly, weekly, daily?

What questions would we ask?

My Story

For the last 10 years, I’ve had a practice of reflecting and checking in on my goals for the year at the end of each month.  The process looks like this:

  • Review goals from the month past.
  • Document what I accomplished – from the goals and other significant milestones.
  • Reflect on what I learned or how I changed.
  • Take note of books I read, classes I took or other learning.
  • Review my goals for the year.
  • Think about the month ahead and set goals.

The whole process takes about 30-60 minutes and sets me up well for making progress toward the larger plans of my annual goals.

Along the way, I’ve also used daily reflection at different points in time. This process is a quick 5-minute check in at the end of the day. Sometimes the check in has been written, other times I just review the list in my head before I go to sleep.  There are two acronyms I’ve used:

  1. GOAL – One thing I’m Grateful for. One thing I’m Over (tough part of the day – to release it), One thing I accomplished. One thing I Learned.
  2. GLAD – One thing for each of the following: Grateful, Learned, Accomplished, Delighted In

A New Idea

Thinking about the framework of an acronym, that made me wonder if you could use your word of the year (if you have one) as the word.  This year, my word is “ALLOW”. 

When I consider why I chose the word, the areas where I would reflect and consider one thing are Accomplish, Learn, Leisure (Relax), Opportunity, and Wow.

In thinking about words from the past, this approach would work well for some (Create, Emerge) and be more challenging for others (Joy, Transform).

Your Turn

Have you tried a daily, weekly, or monthly reflection practice?

Do you use a framework for the reflection or have a more unstructured process?

Could the process of tying reflection to your word of the year work for you?