Maximus
- Dec 25, 2023
- 3 min read

Learning from the past year to create a better year to come

One must question oneself to make a retrospective of the past year before spreading ink on a new goals page for the year to come.

Yes, another year comes to a close, and again, it’s time for a bilan.

I use the 4"W”/“H” to do it. For every question asked, I try to create and answer new questions with: What, Where, Why, Who, How.

It can be a long process sometimes, but it helps me clarify my goals for the following year.

Here are some of the questions I try to answer, being the most true to myself and the facts:

What is the biggest lesson I’ve learned this year?
What do I not wish to do again next year?
What have I done well? Can I improve it to be more efficient?
Did I evolve as a human being this past year?
Am I a better person than I was last year?
How much time have I wasted this year? Why? How? And what do I have to do to fix that?
Am I satisfied with my self-improvement this year?
Did I meet people who can help me become better in my work? My life in general?

These are my fundamental questions. After, you can be more precise about the things you bought, the people you met and with whom it didn’t fit, the investments you made or missed, etc.

We all have our own personal way of setting goals. The key is to take the time to retrospect on our life and be frank about ourselves.

We all set goals in the past which we knew we would not reach. We set them to have a little motivation boost with good intentions.

“This year, I will go to the gym at least thrice a week and lose 20 pounds after six months.”

That is the classic rubbish goal. We know we will not do it. So, why do we lie to ourselves?

Because there are no real threats to our life.

If your life truly depends on it, you will probably do it even if you do not want to.

What we do not realize is that our lives depend on the hard choices we make.

It’s hard until it becomes a habit.

So, before setting goals this year, try to set new healthy habits for every aspect of your life.

As per example:

Professional life and work: I will get up earlier every morning to work on my new side hustle. That way, I will be able to, sooner than later, do it as a full-time business.
Personal life: Instead of hanging with “those colleagues” after work and wasting my time, I will spend 2 hours of quality time with my wife and kids.
I will create the habit of “No alcohol” on weekdays.
I will create the habit of having half an hour of training at least five times a week.

We can add much more to that list, but you understand the concept.

After creating new, healthier life habits, reaching your big goals like buying a new house, a new car, trips and vacations, getting married, etc, will be much easier.

I’ve learned that almost everything in life is about habits.

So, next year's real goals are to change some bad habits and replace them with better ones aligned with what you genuinely want your future life to become!

It is easy; you change your habits, and you will reach your goals.

It is all said, so now you know what you need to do!

I wish you all you truly deserve for the next year!

Learning from the past year to create a better year to come

One must question oneself to make a retrospective of the past year before spreading ink on a new goals page for the year to come.

Yes, another year comes to a close, and again, it’s time for a bilan.

I use the 4"W”/“H” to do it. For every question asked, I try to create and answer new questions with: What, Where, Why, Who, How.

It can be a long process sometimes, but it helps me clarify my goals for the following year.

Here are some of the questions I try to answer, being the most true to myself and the facts:

These are my fundamental questions. After, you can be more precise about the things you bought, the people you met and with whom it didn’t fit, the investments you made or missed, etc.

We all have our own personal way of setting goals. The key is to take the time to retrospect on our life and be frank about ourselves.

We all set goals in the past which we knew we would not reach. We set them to have a little motivation boost with good intentions.

“This year, I will go to the gym at least thrice a week and lose 20 pounds after six months.”

That is the classic rubbish goal. We know we will not do it. So, why do we lie to ourselves?

Because there are no real threats to our life.

If your life truly depends on it, you will probably do it even if you do not want to.

What we do not realize is that our lives depend on the hard choices we make.

It’s hard until it becomes a habit.

So, before setting goals this year, try to set new healthy habits for every aspect of your life.

As per example:

We can add much more to that list, but you understand the concept.

After creating new, healthier life habits, reaching your big goals like buying a new house, a new car, trips and vacations, getting married, etc, will be much easier.

I’ve learned that almost everything in life is about habits.

So, next year's real goals are to change some bad habits and replace them with better ones aligned with what you genuinely want your future life to become!

It is easy; you change your habits, and you will reach your goals.

It is all said, so now you know what you need to do!

I wish you all you truly deserve for the next year!

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