“I can’t see these posts full of year’s results and conclusions from my friends. When it’s gonna stop?” I have seen more of these posts in my Facebook feed than posts with year results and achievements. And you?
I read about different ways of summarising your year and achievements with a lot of interest: mini questioneers (person of the year, book of the year, film of the year, purchase of the year, failing of the year), detailed conclusions with numbers (those were a minority), year in images, year in a movie, list of completed things, list of unfinished things, just a list of something.
And I thought that I have to convert all these energy around into something and chose three rituals of finishing the year for myself:
Letter to yourself in the future
This is a task that very often you receive if you attend self-development trainings and this is something I always want to skip because it is either too complex or too silly. But there is something in this Christmas and New Year period that makes this task a mix of ritual, metaphora, attention and support to yourself and additionally the universe is absolutely all set for irrational things during this period.
Also, it is very useful for me, for a person who is always forgetting what was the wish I wrote on a napkin, burned, put the ashes into a glass of sparkling wine and drank (note: this is a New Year ritual spread in Belarus, not sure it is universally known:)) as it helps me:
- to at least remember myself at that moment and to remember my wishes.
- to allow me to look back to point A and assess my progress as I am in point B
And yes, we leave in times when there is a service for everything: you can write and send yourself an email today and get it after a year back in your mailbox.
Year of gratitude
How many times did you start to keep a diary of gratitude? As many times as I did? (Note: okay, not sure it is a fair question. But in the Russian speaking community it is considered that keeping a diary of gratitude is an must and a key to open the universe to yourself, okay in female Russian speaking community).
So how to end a year if you could not this famous diary of gratitude? Of course, with gratitude! To a year or to selected people that amused / impressed / were important for you. Once I was very envious because of my colleague who at the end of the year gave nice looking chocolate bars to her top 10 people of the year. This is very elegant and nice, especially if it is not a formality, but a real thing.
This year for the first time I sent the postcards with a meaning: to a my Dutch teacher, who gave exactly what I needed at the exact moment, to hosting provider who answered my beginner questions, to friends who continue to inspire me.
A Year in Photos
There should be some excuse why we have all these photos in our smartphones. That’s why we have to go through all the photos and choose 2-3 photos for each months that contain reference to an important moment, emotion, remind of an atmosphere that your experienced. Do not chose pretty ones, they are for another album. This one is about your path.
So why do that?
Firstly, you will need these yearly albums when your memory will start to weaken. You have an easy reference to what happened and when. Everything in one place.
Secondly, you will have a documented answer to a question ‘What I am spending my life on?”
Thirdly, this is it. This process of selecting process is your summarising of the year’s results – you see what you did and what was important and not important, and what you want to repeat?