Contemplating Time
Selkie - July 2025
It’s mid-December, and the end of 2025 is approaching like an out-of-control puppy looking for mischief! I love this time of year as it’s a time of reflection. What happened? What did I do? What didn’t I do? How do I feel about this?
As I contemplated the year, I wasn’t sure how to evaluate 2025. How do you measure a 365-day time period? Plenty of things didn’t get done (TED never called me for a talk), but plenty of things did get done (I relocated from Seattle to Florida). So, my process-oriented mind decided to create a worksheet to help figure this out, and it’s proven itself to be a very useful tool. Which is why I’m sharing it with you today:
Step 1 - Prepare
Find something to write with. While you can do these things online, the brain processes things more deeply when you write by hand.
Find a quiet place to work, uninterrupted, for about 30 minutes.
Astronomical Clock inside Lund Cathedral, Lund, Sweden - 2023
Step 2 - Review the year
In the column on the left, make a list of every significant thing that’s happened in 2025. It could be as small as learning a new recipe or as big as starting a new job. Whatever is on your list must be meaningful to you. The list should also include less positive events, such as receiving a diagnosis or losing a loved one. Only those items that have meaning for you.
Avoid items over which you have no control (News, Politics, Sports). Your team may have won the World Series, but it wasn’t under your control and doesn’t affect your life directly. However, while losing a job isn’t under your control, it is an event that affects your life, and you get to decide how to react to this event.
Step 3 - Evaluate your items
In the next column, denote whether the item was planned or unplanned, based on your intentions at the beginning of the year. For me, something planned was to continue working on my business. Something unplanned was my move to Florida. Unplanned isn’t bad, it’s just life working its magic.
In the next column, rate each item for satisfaction. 1 is highly unsatisfied, 5 is neutral, and 10 is highly satisfied. Last summer, I traded in my combustion engine car for an electric vehicle. I would rate my satisfaction at a 9. There was a bit of a learning curve at first, and I’m working on a charging strategy in my new location, but for the most part, I absolutely love it. On the other hand, I lost a cherished friend 3 weeks ago due to illness. It was unexpected, and I miss her terribly. I’m grateful we had some time together this summer, but I would rate my satisfaction as a 3. While the loss is huge, it’s also a reminder to make more of an effort to spend time with people I love.
Clock at Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA - 2025
Step 4 - Get Tactical
In the last column, identify the next steps for each item. Some items may not have next steps. Others may have so many next steps that they require a project plan. Focus on the most important steps and make a few notes here for each item.
Step 5 - Reflect
Review your worksheet. A few questions to guide your reflection:
What do you notice
Were most of your items planned or unplanned? Are you OK with this balance?
For items that were unplanned, how did you make the most of the situation? Looking back on it, would you have done things in the same way, or differently?
What are your satisfaction levels like? Are you mostly satisfied with your items or dissatisfied? What are your thoughts about this?
Looking at your next steps, how feasible are they? How likely are you to follow through on them? What support might you need to make them happen
Borgarnes, Iceland - 2023
Step 6 - Start the Vision for 2026
Given what you now know, what would you like to keep, change, or remove from your list?
For an item where little progress has been made:
What change needs to happen in order to move it forward in 2026? Hint: try harder is not the right solution. Chances are good that you already tried as hard as you could. It may be time to seek support of some kind.
If, for example, you’d like to lose some weight. What worked in 2025? What got in the way? What support might help you make even more progress in 2026? Would joining a program help? working with a nutritionist? finding a walking partner? working with a personal trainer?
What are some other items you’d like to see in 2026?
Take a break and walk away from this worksheet for a few days. Contemplate what you had on your list and review it in a week or two. You might gain an insight, or recognize a pattern that’s new to you.
As always, a coach is a great way for you to make progress on any goal. Together, we can:
Help you clarify and prioritize your goals
Create action plans specific to you
Hold you accountable so that you follow through on your commitments
Keep your positive achievements front and center, because the default is to focus on gaps.
Snæfellsbær, Iceland - 2023