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One Important Thing Before We Take on a New Year

One important thing before we take on a new year. | Here's how to conduct a "year in review" in your bullet journal or favorite notebook to practice gratitude for ALL that last year brought and clarify your goals for the future!

Oh, how I love this time of year. The blank-slate-ness of it all. There’s not much I find more exhilarating than cracking open a new journal, turning to a blank page, and filling it up with dreams and schemes for a brand spankin’ new year. Cue the “Auld Lang Syne.”

But not yet.

You see, a dear friend recently reminded me that there’s value in pausing to look back before we look ahead. Even if it means revisiting past mistakes and unrealized goals (which sounds way less fun than ignoring them, doncha think?).

But I decided to heed her advice and look back on all that happened the past 365 days with a few prompts to guide me, inspired by @ViaCaligraphy & @Boho.Berry:

One important thing before we take on a new year. | Here's how to conduct a "year in review" in your bullet journal or favorite notebook to practice gratitude for ALL that last year brought and clarify your goals for the future!

  • my one word
  • favorite memory
  • biggest accomplishment
  • biggest challenge
  • best book
  • theatre performances
  • highlights
  • travels
  • successes
  • time well spent
  • lessons learned

Since my memory is a sieve, I took a walk down memory lane with a little help from my camera roll and One Second Everyday app, as well as my bullet journal and our family calendar. I even looked back over our financial statements online because they had stories to tell of their own…many of which involved caramel lattes. #sorrynotsorry

One important thing before we take on a new year. | Here's how to conduct a "year in review" in your bullet journal or favorite notebook to practice gratitude for ALL that last year brought and clarify your goals for the future!

And ya know what happened? After filling up a two-page spread in my bullet journal with my “2017 year in review,” an unexpected visitor took up residence in my heart:

G R A T I T U D E .

Looking back over our highlights and travels, so many centered around shared experiences and adventures with loved ones. I was reminded of how God has put some amazing people in our lives and in our families.

Also, I saw my work as a mama-blogger-director in a new light. Instead of focusing on the hours I squandered or the missed opportunities or incomplete projects, I chose to see the wins. The unexpected gifts. The times God showed up and turned my humble efforts into something great.

Sure, I didn’t crush some of the goals I set a year ago, but I made progress on a lot of them and even accomplished some new ones. And after going through the process of distilling down the big lessons I learned, it’s clear to see I’m not the same Lauren I was a year ago. And that is what I find most encouraging.

I suppose this is what growth looks like for a recovering perfectionist. {Raises hand.} Being able to celebrate the good in light of the hard. Or rather, the good because of the hard. Ay, there’s the rub.

So, those three nap times I dedicated to my “2017 year in review”? Totally worth it.

One important thing before we take on a new year. | Here's how to conduct a "year in review" in your bullet journal or favorite notebook to practice gratitude for ALL that last year brought and clarify your goals for the future!

Bringing it home now:

Dreamers are gonna dream. And we dreamers have plenty of time for dreaming and goal-ing in the days to come.

But dear reader, as we sit here at the gate of the year, I invite you to join me in pausing to look back and take stock at what 2017 brought your way.

ACTION TAKERS: Choose just one of the prompts above and freewrite a list for 10 minutes. See where it leads. You might be surprised by what you uncover when you take a closer look.

Benediction:

May we mark the years not as races to win or lose, but as legs in the journey of becoming.

May we grow in our courage to honor the trials and failures and pain as parts of our story.

May we show kindness to ourselves, remembering we are not superhuman. We are human. We are the theatrically-inclined, hot-drink-lovin’, this-kitchen-is-for-dancing kind of human. {Grin.}

This is Lauren, signing off.

Where to go next?

UPDATE: I loved this exercise so much, I tackled it again a year later. Here’s my 2018 in Review and how it impacted me the second go-around.

If you’re curious to see my bullet journal spread for my One Word for 2018, here ya go.

If you’re eager to learn more about bullet journaling, here’s the inside scoop in 5 Bullet Journaling Myths…Debunked!

Wondering what my favorite tool for capturing memories happens to be? It involves just One Second of Video Everyday. Yup. Crazy awesome.

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11 Comments

  1. Today I stumbled over this gem of a post only six months after you wrote it! Makes me want to look back on the past six months of 2018 in a similar way, since it feels like a year already! Your vulnerable and open heart encourage me to be the same way. Having a few days of vacation may actually make it possible.

  2. I almost couldn’t finish your post. 2017 has been a horrific year that promises to spill out into 2018. Looking back is painful, but then you said something that hooked me, “…the good because of the hard.” You mentioned growth. Then I suddenly realized the really difficult years are the most productive. There are survival stories, the proving of our faith, and the ability to relate to others who suffer. A diamond is produced under pressure and cut multiple times by the Master before it can be useful and appreciated. Thank you, Lauren, for challenging me to look back, learn, and appreciate “the good because of the hard.”

    1. Oh Darlene, I’m so heartbroken to hear that 2017 was such a rough year for you. Sending you the biggest hug right now! And I’m just so grateful that God inspired those six words that proved to be a comfort to you. You’re exactly right when you said that we grow most in those challenging and trying times. I know God uses them to draw me near to Him (I can no longer run on self-sufficiency) and to mold and shape me into the woman He envisioned when he dreamed me up. Still, it doesn’t make it easy by any stretch of the imagination.

      I’m saying a prayer for you right now. For God to cover you with His peace which surpasses all understanding. And for you to catch glimmers of that diamond the Master is producing in you.

      Thank you for reading and for taking the time to share with such bravery. What an encouragement your comment was to me tonight!

  3. Thanks so much for sharing your journey, Lauren! I’m feeling so inspired to undertake a “year in review” myself!

    1. It was truly a joy to share. Thank you so much for reading along! I know 2017 was such a big year for you and your family with lots of transition…I could see a “year in review” being such a meaningful exercise. Excited to see what 2018 holds for you and your family, my friend!

  4. This post and your 2017 in review spread are brilliant. While I’ve spent December doing Boho Berry’s Year End Review Challenge I think a two page spread to capture it is a wonderful idea. And it’s totally going to feature in my Jan section coz I already did my Jan cover page. I’m so glad I connected with you on your @LaurensPlannerPages instantgram (what my husband calls it :p).
    Looking forward to an awesome 2018 and hope you and your family have a great year full of fun, laughs and adventure!

    1. Aw, thanks so much for popping on by, Rachel! And for your kind words. You always inspire me with your dedication to Boho Berry’s Daily Challenges! It was fun to get to take a stab at some of her fun prompts with this one. Ha ha. Love your husband’s affectionate name for Insta. I, too, have enjoyed our connections over there. It was so encouraging to know a friend from The Thinking Closet community ALSO had a passion for bullet journaling like I did. Keep on keepin’ on with your awesome self. Aw, and thanks for those warm wishes for the new year. Right back atcha, lovely lady! P.S. Love the new handle if I haven’t said so already!

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