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Happy Monday 🌞

In my last newsletter, I talked about starting a page for next year. Today, I want to walk you through something that makes that future planning so much more powerful: end-of-year reflection.

Even though we’re not quite at the end of the year yet, this is actually the perfect time to bookmark this exercise. Things tend to slow down in December, and you can tackle this reflection in multiple sittings whenever you have space.

Personally, I love doing this between Christmas and New Year’s — that’s when I’m in the mood for it — but you can really do this anytime in December (or honestly, whenever feels right to you).

Why full-year reflection is worth the time

When I think back on a year without intentional reflection, my brain defaults to recency bias. I’ll remember the last few months clearly, maybe one or two major events, and that’s about it. But there’s so much more to a year than what’s most recent or most dramatic.

Full-year reflection helps me see patterns I’d otherwise miss. It surfaces small wins that deserve celebration and shifts that shaped the trajectory of my year. It’s how I make sure the story I tell myself about the year is accurate and complete.

My reflection prompts

I like to ask a bunch of different questions from multiple angles so I can really get at the full story of the year. Here’s what I review:

• What were the biggest highlights of this year?
• What were the most challenging moments, and what did I learn from them?
• What am I most proud of accomplishing?
• What surprised me about this year?
• If I set goals, which ones did I reach? Which ones didn’t I reach, and why?
• What patterns do I notice when I look at the full year?
• What theme would I give this year?
• What do I want to carry forward into next year?
• What do I want to leave behind?

For each area, I look for both the big things and the small things. I also look for undercurrents — what were the themes of my year?

How to make reflection work for you

Some people find this kind of reflection comes easily, while others need a bit more prompting. Here are a few things that help me:

• Change your environment: I like going to a coffee shop or anywhere that’s not home. Having some space between my normal areas helps me reflect more clearly.
• Have a hot beverage: This one might not apply to everyone, but it helps me settle in.
• Use the right format: I mix it up between journaling and documenting in digital tools depending on what feels right that year.

For my fellow verbal processors

Here’s something I’ve been doing more lately: since I’m a verbal processor, I often reflect by recording a voice note where I just talk out loud. Then I use AI to summarize what I said. If you process thoughts by talking them through, this might capture the most complete reflection in the shortest amount of time. You’ll speak faster than you type or write by hand.

→ Read my full post on the end-of-year reflection exercise I do every year​

Have you done end-of-year reflections before? If so, I’d love to know if you do anything differently. And if you try this approach, let me know what you learn. ✨

I hope you have a lovely week ahead. As always, feel free to reply if this sparks any thoughts or questions.

See you next Monday,

Hailley

• If you're in Marketing or create content, this is a great calendar to reference: Social Media Calendar for Every Holiday of 2026​
• Eleven years ago I cold-pitched Arianna Huffington. Here's the full story.
• Random but I got a new pair of slippers* I'm loving in case you need a recommendation, and the other item I've been sharing with friends is this fidget ring* that I've been wearing a lot recently. *Affiliate links

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