struthless - How to ACTUALLY review your 2024
The speaker introduces a unique method for conducting year-end reviews that balances introspection with enjoyment. Traditional reviews often fall into two categories: clinical self-help reviews focused on goal achievement, and entertaining summaries like Spotify Wrapped that present data in a fun way. The speaker's approach aims to merge these by encouraging reflection through a structured, yet enjoyable format. The review consists of eight parts, including highlights, setbacks, goals, and personal achievements, with an emphasis on sharing and celebrating both successes and failures. The speaker also includes creative elements like photo pages and personal anecdotes to make the process engaging and relatable.
Key Points:
- Combine reflection with fun in year-end reviews.
- Include both achievements and setbacks for a balanced view.
- Use creative elements like photos and rhymes to engage.
- Celebrate small wins and personal growth.
- Encourage sharing and community involvement.
Details:
1. 🎬 Introduction to Yearly Reviews
- Yearly reviews can be approached in two main ways: clinical self-help reviews that focus on goal evaluation, which can be intimidating and laborious.
- Clinical self-help reviews often involve a detailed assessment of personal and professional goals, requiring significant introspection and time commitment.
- These reviews may include setting new objectives, analyzing past performance, and identifying areas for improvement, which can feel overwhelming for some.
- Another approach is a more reflective and narrative review, focusing on personal experiences and learnings over the year without the pressure of strict goal evaluation.
- This method can be less intimidating as it emphasizes storytelling and personal growth, making it more accessible for those who find structured goal setting daunting.
2. ⚖️ The Art of Balanced Reflection
- Year summaries, such as Spotify Wrapped, are innovative tools that transform personal data into engaging and shareable content, highlighting the immense amount of user data collected by companies.
- Spotify Wrapped, for example, allows users to reflect on their listening habits, revealing detailed insights like 4,000 hours of music played over the year.
- These summaries cleverly disguise data tracking as fun and cool experiences, encouraging users to share their results widely on social media, which also serves as a subtle promotion for the platform.
- Other platforms could leverage similar strategies to enhance user engagement by combining reflective summaries with entertaining content, thus promoting a culture of sharing and review among users.
3. 📝 Reflecting on Highlights and Setbacks
- The review is structured into eight parts, each designed to be engaging and thought-provoking, providing a comprehensive reflection on personal achievements and challenges.
- The importance of recognizing both achievements and setbacks is emphasized, encouraging self-congratulation and forgiveness for uncontrollable events, fostering a balanced approach to personal growth.
- Personal highlights, such as family moments and attending a Blink 182 concert, are shared, illustrating the significance of personal experiences in overall happiness and fulfillment.
- A significant decision discussed was getting blood tested for anemia, which positively impacted health by addressing a critical issue, highlighting the importance of proactive health measures.
- Setbacks, including health issues like anemia and financial challenges, are candidly discussed, offering insight into common personal hurdles and the resilience needed to overcome them.
4. 📷 Capturing Everyday Moments
- Emphasize the importance of celebrating everyday life through photography of morning, noon, and night, as well as nature and progress shots.
- Highlight the beauty in routine and mundane daily life, encouraging gratitude for the roughly 250 days a year that are lived similarly.
- Nature shots capture the inherent beauty of the environment, offering a different perspective from everyday scenes.
- Progress pictures reflect ongoing personal or project developments, providing a visual narrative of growth.
- Include practical tips for capturing these moments effectively, such as using natural light, focusing on composition, and experimenting with angles.
- Encourage capturing both at-home and away-from-home moments to showcase varied perspectives.
5. 🎯 Setting and Achieving Goals
5.1. Personal Goals
5.2. Professional and Creative Goals
5.3. Health and Fitness Goals
6. 🎨 Inspirations and Recommendations
6.1. Media Inspirations
6.2. Media and People Recommendations
6.3. Personal Connections
6.4. Visual Storytelling
7. 📸 Visual Reflections and Milestones
- Utilize three creative themes - Nostalgia, Chaos, and Humor - to inspire unique photographic interpretations, encouraging personal creativity and expression.
- Promote the practice of taking 'before and after' photos to visually document progress in areas such as fitness, home organization, and personal projects, enhancing the sense of achievement.
- Emphasize the importance of celebrating small wins through photography, providing a platform for sharing personal achievements and milestones in a visual format.
- Encourage community engagement by inviting individuals to share their progress photos, highlighting the power of visual storytelling in fostering connection and personal growth.
- Offer examples of successful visual storytelling, such as a fitness journey captured through incremental photos, demonstrating the impact of consistent documentation on motivation and accountability.
8. 🔄 Personal Growth and Future Planning
- Reflect on past achievements by listing three things made, three lessons learned, three new things tried, and three 'Treasures' earned, including intangible gains like self-respect.
- Emphasize the importance of recognizing overall progress over time rather than focusing solely on day-to-day changes.
- Acknowledge major life changes, such as expecting a second child and publishing another book, as significant milestones.
- Encourage setting a vision for the future by creating a detailed plan for the upcoming year, outlining specific goals and steps to achieve them.
- Identify personal stabilizing factors that have contributed to a renewed sense of stability and positive outlook on life.
- Consider using a structured approach to future planning, such as SMART goals, to ensure clarity and attainability.