In our coaching programs, we often recommend doing a "week in review," where you reflect on your wins, the areas you performed well in, the areas where you’d like to see more growth, and what to focus on in the upcoming week.

But what about a "year in review"? With just over a week into the new year, now is a great time to pause and consider these questions from The Art of Simple. Take a moment to write your responses in your journal. As you reflect, feel free to expand on your thoughts, turn them into prayers, and approach them with a spirit of gratitude.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

5. Pick three words to describe this past year.

6. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to describe your year.

7. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to describe their year.

8. Wha...

As the year comes to a close, it's a good time to pull out your journal and write down your thoughts. This is especially helpful to make sense of your experiences in the past year and the concerns you may have for the coming year. If you don't know where to begin, here are some journaling exercises from Psychology Today to help you get started. 

Explore Your Strengths and Weaknesses

1. Make a list of three qualities you have that you consider weaknesses, then explore how these so-called weaknesses might be recast as strengths. For instance, if you believe micromanagement is a weakness of yours, it could also mean that you’re organized and responsible. Once you determine the strength on the flip side of that quality, write about a time when you used that quality in a positive way. If you can’t think of a recent example, write something aspirational (how you might use this quality positively in the future).

Dive Into Your Emotional State

2. Write about a moment when you felt a ...

In our coaching programs, one of the things we recommend is to do a week in review where you write down your wins for the week, the areas where you did well, areas where you need to see more growth, and what you need to focus on the next week. Well what about a year in review? We are still a week into the new year so it would be good to take time to answer these questions from https://www.theartofsimple.net/ and write them down in your journal. As you write down your answers, feel free to expand your thoughts, turn them into prayers and write them down with a spirit of gratitude.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

5. Pick three words to describe this past year.

6. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to describe your year.

7. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to desc...

Happy New Year! Just like you, we too are excited about facing a brand new year! January is also the time when people start thinking about new year resolutions. But how important is it really to come up with new goals or promises when, as we know, sometimes promises get broken. Dr. Caroline Leaf tells us that it’s okay to not keep a resolution. She says it’s actually quite difficult to build a new mental habit, which is the foundation of any lifestyle change, and it requires time and good mind management. Here are some of Dr. Leaf’s wisdom nuggets regarding new year resolutions:

• As you start your new year’s journey, you may find that your resolution needs to be changed, because your needs have changed, or you find that your resolution was too big. This is why it is always important to be open-minded to changing your direction. If something doesn’t work for you, analyze why and try something different. Have what I call a “possibilities mindset”!
• It’s also important not to shame yo...