With Christa the Christmas Elf - 1 December
I got quite the surprise this morning and am hurriedly snapping a few photos and writing up this post to share the first of what I understand will be 24 End of the Year Planning Tips from Christa, the Christmas Elf. Her first tip is to get started with capturing your reflections of the past year. I’ll add more about Christa later, let’s talk about her first tip.
Begin Capturing Your Reflections of the Past Year
Yes, there’s a whole month left before the year ends. But you’re probably pretty busy. You want to take the time to review the entire year and record your ideas, feelings, successes, and not quite successes.
Hopefully, this type of reflection is something you do periodically. I use a month in review format where I record:
- Things that worked well
- Things did not work well
- Accomplishments/Goals Met
- Do more of
- Do less of
- Best Memories
Often, I will add something to this reflections page during my weekly review. I may note changes made because something wasn’t working well and by the end of the month, I am updating it based on my changes.
The “things” that worked or did not work well, usually refer to my processes or habits – the methods I am using to execute my plans. The “Do more” and “Do less” are about my activities – what am I enjoying and finding helpful or what is causing me grief or just stealing my joy. The reflections cover both personal and professional aspects of my life.
How Do End of the Year Reflections Differ From Monthly Reflections
When I look back over the last month and reflect on what is, or is not, working; I am focused in a narrow window of time. We might note the immediate impact of events and how we handled it in the moment. But end of the year reflections allow us to view those events in a larger context. We can consider not only how we came managed to get through each up and/or down, but reflect on what we have learned about ourselves and how we might handle similar events differently in the future.
So don’t wait until that last week of December and rush through setting new goals for the new year without taking a mental walk down memory lane capture your reflections of the past year. Once you realize all that you learned about yourself over the last year, you’ll be able to put it to use in the next year.
About Christa
She is adorable. I just love her PJs – “Sleigh All Day!” My first thought was “Sleigh the Day” which is something we all plan to do, right? I have a feeling that Christa heard about me from an elf by the name of Silverbelle. She learned I was all into planning and planners and decided to come spend December with me. I’m too old for Santa to be checking up on me, but Christa is a mature (read older) elf (like myself) and is working in Admin – perhaps this is some sort of internship for both of us?
The Sweet Gingers (my granddaughters) have a Christmas Elf that visits them each year. Her name is Silverbelle. Last year, the girls were coming to spend the first week of the school holidays at my house. They were pretty concerned about her since you can’t touch the elves or they lose their magic. They didn’t know how on earth she’d find her way from their house to my house. The drive is several hours and I wanted to get an early start the next day. I packed most of my stuff up and loaded my vehicle the evening before. The next morning, they looked around and she was no where to be found. They were wondering if maybe she was already on her way to my house or something.
We finished packing things up and headed out to the car. There she was, peeking out of a box of craft supplies I’d loaded the night before. She was a good house guest – very quiet and not too many midnight shenanigans. There were rumors of some sort of magic dust. She left a blank piece of note paper one night. The girls kept asking me to read it. They insisted there was a message written on it. I’m sure it was all just a coincidence that I agreed with the girls when I asked “What we should have for lunch?” and they responded “Ice cream sundaes with all the toppings!” that day.
Keep watching to see what other End of the Year Planning tips Christa shares!
Happy Planning,
Linda
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