Build a Monthly Review Habit to Reclaim Your Year with These 8 Questions
We all know how it goes. We begin the year with hopes and dreams for differences that are going to matter.
Then we blink and it’s April, and so many things that we couldn’t have anticipated careening into our life have barreled into us and waylaid our plans.
So, we gather our wits and our resolve and make an intention to get back onto the things we said were important to us at the beginning of the year. But the thing is that now priorities have shifted, and there’s just more stuff we’ve got to do. There are many of us that go through our days putting out fires or checking off items on our to do list. Sometimes it feels like we’re not getting anywhere. Sometimes it feels like life is just happening.
The Role of Reflection in Reclaiming Your Time
One method of shifting this experience is to set aside some time to take stock of what has happened over the course of the day. If journaling is a habit you’re trying to pick up, then I’ve developed a resource for you (insert link: https://a.co/d/4dnUsM0 ) built off of therapeutic questions to shape your mindset as you build the rhythm of daily review.
Why a Monthly Review Matters
The end of the month, however, is another great time to take a beat and look back to see what those four or so weeks have meant in the shaping of your life.
Why develop a habit of review?
Well, research shows that setting aside regular intervals to recollect the events of our life and their meaning has the ability to improve cardiovascular function, brain health, and immune response (Pennebaker et al., 1988; Smyth et al., 1999).
If that’s not enough, studies confirm that the more coherent an a story a person tells about their life has correlation to their overall wellbeing (Almedom & Almedom, 2005; Lilgendahl & McAdams, 2011). Even the impacts of traumatic events can be reduced through an approach to retelling (Pennebaker et al., 1988). Importantly, recalling the events of your month gives you the chance to reassert what’s important to you, rather than allowing the demands of the news cycle, car engine light, homework assignments, and tik tok trends to tell you what’s a priority and how you measure up in the scheme of things.
8 Questions to Guide Your Monthly Review
If you’d like to give this habit a try, here are a few questions to get you started:
What were my best decisions this month?
What were my biggest mistakes?
What have I learned from those mistakes?
What habits have added the most value to my life?
What’s something that really hurt that I need to give more attention to?
What relationships have been most meaningful, helpful, and fun?
What new skills am I learning?
What milestones have I come closer to accomplishing this month?
Creating a Monthly Review Practice
Before you start answering these questions, set aside a special time and place for the activity. You may want to invite someone to share this with. You may want to have a special treat that you enjoy while you do this. When you’re finished, you can use your answers to these questions to determine what will be important looking ahead into the next month.
Looking Back at the End of the Year
At the end of the year, you’ll be able to look back on the accumulation of little moments, meaningful relationships, growth and accomplishment that you have crafted day by day.
Sources:
Almedom, A. M., & Almedom, A. M. (2005). Resilience, Hardiness, Sense of Coherence, and Post-traumatic Growth: All Paths Leading to “Light at the End of the Tunnel”?Journal of Loss & Trauma., 10(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325020590928216
Lilgendahl, J. P., & McAdams, D. P. (2011). Constructing stories of self-growth: How individual differences in patterns of autobiographical reasoning relate to well-being in midlife. Journal of Personality, 79(2), 391-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00688.x
Pennebaker, J.W., et al. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(2), 239-245.
Smyth, J.M., et al. (1999). "Effects of writing about stressful experiences on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis." JAMA.
Here at Atlanta Wellness Collective, we want to help. For support, contact us or schedule an appointment online.
This blog post was written by Ansley Brague.
This blog is not intended to substitute professional therapeutic advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your health concerns and before starting or stopping therapies. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct professional advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
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