Annual Review 2023 (+ Template)

I'm excited to share one of my favorite rituals: The annual recalibration. I'm starting earlier this year to give myself more time to reflect on how the year has unfolded, and because I’ll run a workshop-style collaborative review with our whole community of entrepreneurs soon.


This year, after lots of experimentation and integration, I added two elements. The frog and the snake. The frog helped me clean up my office after months of procrastination. It gave me the super power to leap.
The snake asks “What are you tolerating?”. It prompts me to let go of attachments to things, people, behaviors that don’t serve me anymore. 

I’m sharing the five-step template I use to guide my December review process.

  • Step 1: receive 🦋
  • Step 2: reflect ⛲
  • Step 3: let go 🐍
  • Step 4: leap 🐸
  • Step 5: focus 🎯

Get the template!

step 1: receive 🦋

Collect all the people, places, activities, songs, recipes, books that Made you happy. 

  1. People:
  2. Places:
  3. Activities:
  4. Songs:
  5. Recipes:
  6. Books:

Now that you have jotted them down, take a moment to soak it in. Enjoy. 

step 2: reflect

🐆 Energy

  1. What moments brought me the most joy?
  2. What am I most grateful for? What moments lit me up and energized me?
  3. What moments did I find flow in and feel most aligned?
  4. What moments drained me?

🌱 Growth

  1. How am I different?
  2. What moments expanded me the most?
  3. What am I most proud of achieving personally?
  4. What am I most proud of achieving professionally?
  5. What did I learn about myself this year?
  6. What mindsets and beliefs evolved?

🥊 Challenges

  1. What were my biggest challenges this year?
  2. What goals didn’t I accomplish? What got in the way?
  3. What do I wish I did differently this year?
  4. What habits or beliefs held me back?

🐶 Community

  1. Who had the greatest impact on my life?
  2. Which relationships have been most fulfilling?
  3. Which relationships have been most draining?
  4. Who walked into my life this year? What was their impact on me?
  5. When did I feel most connected?
  6. Who do I admire and want to spend more time with next year?
  7. What communities do I belong to?

🫀 Health & Wellness

  1. How is my overall physical and mental health?
  2. What are the trends in my core health metrics?
  3. Which physical challenges did I take on?

Summary

  1. What were my top lessons learned?
  2. What advice do I have for me in the new year?

step 3: let go 🐍

I learned from Caroline Myss that we operate by default at the speed of light. Real-time healing. Real-time creativity. But the more we “attach” ourselves to things in the past, the heavier and slower we become. So let’s open up the palm of our hand, and let go of some attachments.

  • What am I tolerating?
  • Who am I tolerating?
  • What beliefs no longer serve me?
  • What habits no longer serve me?

step 4: leap 🐸

  • What one big thing am I scared to do? 
  • Where do I feel out of alignment in life?
  • Which one big thing would be fun to start?
  • Which one big thing would be fun to have completed, 10 years from now?
  • Where do I need permission to get started?

step 5: focus 🎯

Now it’s time to get tactical and map out the aligned actions you need to make 2024 a beautiful, nurturing, exciting, wild year.

The Focus Card (Example):

Now complete your focus card:
3 YEARS GOALS

1 YEAR GOALS

90 DAYS ACTIVITIES

WEEKLY METRICS

Enjoy the template!

— Simon (@simonseverino)

a collection of gems.

Here are a list of similar templates that have inspired me and guided me along the way:

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