2021 is the perfect time for a reset. You may have already worked on your goals, identified how you want to continue to grow and develop over the next year, but it is probably also worth doing a catch up with what has been going on recently for the purpose of your own personal annual review.
Your Personal Annual Review
It is easy to miss our doing a personal annual review. A personal annual review can really help you make progress and get a much-needed boost. Many of our prompts help with this review, but sometimes it can be more effective to sit down and think about all of these things together.
To get started, schedule some time on your calendar. Then, grab a pen and paper and your Career Journal and get ready to do some thinking and writing.
Look Backward
Start by asking yourself a few questions about 2020:
- What achievements are you proud of and why?
- What did you end up achieving in 2020?
- What do you love about what you do?
- What did you do in the last year that you enjoyed?
- What did you spend the majority of your time doing?
- Were you happy with what you were doing?
- How did you spend your free time/downtime?
- What extra credit projects did you take on?
- What was the best investment of your time that you made?
- What was the worst investment of your time?
- What do you want to do more of?
- What do you want to do less of?
- What did you learn?
- Good advice I have been given this year
- If you could change one thing about what you did last year work-wise, what would it be?
- What can you improve on for next year?
- What do you need to work on?
- What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Look Forward
The next step is to look ahead and map out where you are going to go next.
- What do you want to do in 2021?
- What do you want to achieve?
- What do you want to learn in the coming year?
- Write a List of Things you want to Try
- What new projects or assignments would you love to take on this year?
- What skills do you need to develop?
- How will you grow those skills?
- What kind of help do you need to move forward?
- Where will you get that help?
What’s Next?
Now that you have thought about these questions and answered them they should be used to help you decide what to do next and write your plan for the year.