Oh, December – the month with annual reviews on continuous loop. But what about your personal review of the year? We have an ingenious and simple method for you!

Lieber deutschsprachig lesen?
Beitrag in meinem DoSchuCom Blog.

The last month of the year, and especially the time between the years, is the classic moment to look back on the year. And to prepare yourself to start the new year with positive thoughts and ideas. The method Year In Year Out, which I am happy to introduce to you, is a brilliant guide to this.

What’s the benefit of an annual retrospective?

Every year I’m asked this again. „You always look ahead, why a review of the past year?“ That’s a good question, and I’m happy to answer it here.

Incidentally, the answer is just as applicable to reviews after completed projects or events.

A retrospective is an opportunity, …

• … to look back at the experiences of the past months in order to learn from them.
• … to highlight one’s own strengths and appropriate situations.
• … to reflect on what is good for oneself (or one’s project).
• … to remember and enjoy the successful moments of the year.
• … to come to terms with burdensome issues of the past year.

I think these are good reasons for a retro, are they not?

And why ‚Year In Year Out‘?

I’ve only been familiar with the method since last year. It is amazingly simple and effective. In our coworking space Rayaworx, we worked with vision boards on the initiative of the Neues Machen group. From this grew the tradition of holding a session at the turn of the year in which interested people design their personal board for the coming year.

Until last year, I led a meditation to set the mood. I invited people to look for what had fallen short in the past months, for what had been missing, for personal wishes. In 2020, the session took place for the first time as a hybrid in my online salon and at Rayaworx Mallorca.

For December 2021, coworker Christine Deger brought a new method to our virtual cowirk.space community that had impressed her very much: TheYear In Year Out method she had previously experienced with Madame Moneypenny (Nathalie Wegelin).

Ingenious & simple: You only need two sheets of paper and a pen for Year In Year Out!

We all liked it from the start. In our case, the implementation of the method extended over two dates: One afternoon in December, the group dedicated itself to the Year In review part. And between the years, we met for the Vision Board Session with the Year Out planning part.

---

---

‚Year In‘ • How does the retrospective part work?

If you missed our first online gathering, you can do your Year In retrospective for yourself. Give yourself a time frame of 5 to 10 minutes maximum for each of the review steps (set a smartphone timer).

Please bear in mind: We do not want to document the year in a very detailed protocol. It is more important to note down what has occupied you most and therefore comes to mind most quickly. You can always make additions that are important to you afterwards.

• Draw 3 circles like a target on a sheet of paper.

• Now note from the outside to the inside:
  • Paper area around the circles: What happened in the world that touched you? What has had an effect on your life / your heart’s project?
  • Outer circle: What has happened in your own life / your heart project?
  • Middle circle: How did you feel about it? What emotions do you associate with these events?
  • Innermost circle: What is the essence of the past year? Can you derive a motto, a sentence?

Let your completed sheet on the past year take effect on you. Conclude with negative experiences and incidents, ‚file‘ them under 2022. Only make additions later if it is important to you.

‚Year Out‘: How does the outlook into the new year work?

We like to experience this together and also go into a visualisation of our wishes for the new year in the personal vision board (see details in the Rayaworx Calendario).

If you prefer to do it for yourself, I will give you the instructions here for the part that looks into the future. After the Year In you will have a clear understanding of what is good for you and/or your favourite project. With these insights, you then make plans for 2023: What do you want to develop further? What do you want to integrate more into your everyday life? What do you want to acquire?

Again, as mentioned above, set yourself a timer with 5-10 minutes for each step.

• Draw 3 circles like a target on a sheet of paper.

• Now note from the inside to the outside:
  • Inner circle: What is your motto for the coming year?
  • Middle circle: How do you want to feel in the coming year? What emotions do you want to feel?
  • Outer circle: What will you / your heart project experience this year to make you feel this way?
  • Paper area around the circles: What do you want to give to the world in 2023?

This chart is for YOUR year: So hang it up for yourself to see. Take a photo of it and save it on one of your computer workspaces as your desktop background.

Make it YAY.

With this in mind, make the most of your time, if possible spend it with people & activities that are good for you and others.