Write an Annual Life Report
Write an Annual Life Report
An annual ritual for savoring the joyful memories of the past year, crystalizing growth and wisdom, and setting intentions for the year to come.
Step One:
Create an outline of sections & questions to guide your report, based on what matters most to you in life.
Possibilities:
A timeline of major events by month
Favorite memories from the year
Key relationships & new connections
Key lessons learned & emotional growth
Skills learned & practiced
Community connection & involvement
Professional growth
Metrics: financial, health, etc.
Favorite songs, movies, books, poems, quotes, etc.
Places visited
What went well?
What did not go well? What did you learn or how did you grow from these experiences?
If you have identified core values, how did you express these this year?
Favorite photos from the year
Ways you used your strengths
A list of ways you experienced the 10 forms of positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, love
Intentions or goals for the upcoming year. Consider framing your intentions around different dimensions of wellbeing, according to either a western or non-western model.
Step two
Find a chunk of time when you can sit quietly and write, either by yourself or with loved ones. Consider lighting a candle, building an altar, or (if the weather allows) sitting in nature. Adding small details helps turn this journaling exercise into a reflective ceremony.
Step three
Mark your calendar with several temporal landmarks when you might like to revisit the intentions you set for the upcoming year. Possibilities include your birthday, holidays that are meaningful to you, solstice or equinoxes, full moons, or dates when big transitions are planned like a move or job transition.
NOTES FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Temporal Landmarks & The Fresh Start Effect
In 2014, a group of researchers from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania analyzed Google search data and found that searches for the word “diet” spike on January 1st, but also on other days that seemed to represent “firsts.” This has become known as The Fresh Start Effect.
The New Year is what social scientists call a Temporal Landmark. Just as physical landmarks help us navigate through the physical world, days that have been assigned significance help us to mark the passage of time. This includes universal markers like Mondays, the first day of the month, the full moon, national holidays, and the new year, as well as personal markers like birthdays, anniversaries, and job changes.
Rituals that we craft around these time markers hold the added benefits of the Fresh Start Effect. Entering into a new period allows us to mentally separate our “old selves” and “new selves,” in the same way a business closes the past year’s books and opens a new ledger at the start of the new fiscal year.
Further Reading
Article from Dan Pink: How to Make a New Year’s Non-Resolution
Book: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Research Study: The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior