Endings are a good time to reflect on and integrate our experiences and learning. At these times we often see the past, present and future in a different light – time stretches out and we see new perspectives.
With this in mind, this reflection exercise honours the end of the calendar year, and everything that has come and gone with it – supporting you to look back and move forward with awareness and intention. It’s designed to create:
- A more developed perspective on the year gone by and how its been
- An opportunity to take note of and integrate learning
- Awareness about what you’d like to take into the year ahead
It can be used to reflect on life in our outside of work and can be completed individually or as a collective exercise.
Getting started…
- This reflection exercise shares a sequence of open questions, feel free to answer them in a way that works for you – pause or stop whenever you need to
- To start, take a moment to figure out how you’d like to approach this. Would you prefer to think, write or type your responses? What does getting the most out of this exercise mean to you, and what will support this?
- Now, pause a moment and notice – what word would sum up how you feel today? How might how you’re feeling influence what comes up in this exercise?
- As you notice more, respond to what your body might need in this moment – perhaps warmth, water, movement, etc
Your last month
- Reflecting on the last few weeks or so – what has been most memorable about this time?
- What about this memorable thing has been important to you?
- What else comes up as you think about it?
- In what ways has the last month been similar to the rest of the year? Note as many ways as you can think of – everything is welcome
- And, in what ways has it been different?
- Reflecting on these similarities and differences, what stands out to you?
- Which of the similarities and differences are welcome and which are less welcome?
Your animal of the year
- If you were to choose an animal that represents the year gone by, what would you go for?
- What makes you choose this animal to represent your year?
- Imagine, what environment is your animal of the year in? How does this reflect how things have been for you?
- How has your animal connected with other animals around it?
- Take a moment to pause, what stands out to you as you reflect on this?
Your year – focussed reflections
- In what ways has the year panned out as you hoped? And, in what ways has it been different?
- What has surprised you most this year? What have you learnt from this?
- What was the hardest part, and what supported you through this?
- What are you most proud of from the year gone by?
- Who or what have you really appreciated this year?
- What have you learnt about yourself and your context based on these experiences?
- If you could have done something differently over the last year, what would this be? How would you like this hindsight to inform your future actions?
Taking stock
- Thinking about your reflections so far – what stands out to you?
- Take a moment to notice any places of tension in your body and see if you’d like to take a break or continue
Looking ahead
- What word/s do you want prioritise taking with you into the next year?
- Looking around where you are, what object, pattern or colour reflects the word/s you’d like to take with you?
- Who or what would you like to connect more with next year? What about this appeals to you?
- In what ways could you build these connections in small or big ways?
- Are any other actions or ideas popping up that you’d like to note down?
To close
- What have you found interesting about this exercise?
- What has been harder to do?
- What’s the most important thing that emerged from your perspective?
- Check in with yourself – take a moment to notice where in your body feels warm, breathe into this place if that appeals
- Reflection can bring up useful, moving and interesting things – whatever has come up for you, what do you fancy doing now?
Whether your year has been tumultuous, challenging, easeful, joyful or a mix of all these things, I hope this reflection exercise has been helpful for you.
I always welcome hearing your experiences and feedback, feel free to get in touch if there’s anything you’d like to share.
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