Reflecting on 2023, dreaming and planning for 2024
Author, journalist and life coach Annie Ridout shares the prompts she’ll be using to reflect on 2023 and plan for 2024 before heading into the Christmas mayhem…
Hiya 🌊! I’m Lucy from Hype Yourself. I share tips and lessons on self-promotion and creative living to help you earn an income from your expertise or passion. If you are new to this page, pop your email below to ensure you receive my posts. Today’s prompt is a coaching-led end-of-year reflection from
There’s a tendency to wait until the quiet period before Christmas and New Year’s Eve to do our reflecting, dreaming and planning for the following year. But I’ve decided to carve out time and space to look back on 2023 and ahead to 2024 before diving head into Christmas planning this year.
From mid-December on, my focus will be almost entirely on my children, and our wider family and friends. Working out who’s visiting when; who we’re going to see; what food and presents I need to buy; how on earth I’ll honour my introversion needs while constantly surrounded by people.
So this year, I’m setting aside an hour to honour the work I’ve done in 2023, the work I’d like to be doing in 2024 and to luxuriate in all that matters to me before I give myself over to everyone else. I’ll be thinking about my career, but also the people around me, my wellbeing and my wishes and dreams.
If you’d like to join me in some goal-setting, dreaming and visioning, below are the prompts I’ll be using. I’d recommend making yourself a cup of tea or coffee and getting yourself settled somewhere comfy and quiet with a pen and paper.
Let’s return to the beginning of the year – January 2023.
How were you feeling, as we entered this year?
Work-wise, how were things looking?
What did you hope to achieve this year?
How did that go?
What was the highest point for you, in terms of career?
And the lowest?
Did anything happen, in terms of your work, that surprised you?
Who have you connected with – online or offline – this year?
What do you feel proud of, this year?
How have you felt about the balance between money work and the rest of life?
Staying on money: how much have you earned?
How do you feel about that?
Approaching the end of the year, how do you feel about 2023, as a whole?
Moving into 2024, how would you like to feel next year?
What’s your main value for 2024?
How will you honour this?
What hours would you like to be working?
Design the ideal week day…
How about the weekends: how are you spending them?
How will you look after yourself?
What new skill would you like to learn?
What new treatment or experience would you like to try?
If you could achieve any one thing in 2024, what would it be?
How much would you like to earn?
What work would you like to be doing to earn that money?
Wild card question: you have to entirely change careers in 2024 – what are you doing?
At this time next year, what would you like to say, when reflecting on 2024?
Could you create a mantra, using that phrase, to repeat from now and through next year? Put it in the present tense (I am…, I feel… I do….).
You have a magic wand, what do you wish for right now?
I interviewed Sharmadean Reid, founder of The Stack World, for my last non-fiction book - Raise your SQ - and she shared a lovely way to vision of the new year. She writes out a story – present tense, first person – about what she’s doing, seeing, feeling etc. But she incorporates all the things she wants that perhaps she doesn’t already have into the story, as if she’s living her dream life now.
So for me, it might be:
I’m Annie Ridout. I’m so excited to have three more ghostwriting projects lined up for 2024, plus a commission to write my fourth non-fiction book. I’ve been approached by a major publisher who’d like to publish a collection of my poems and my Substack is now bringing me £100,000 a year. I work in school hours and have adventures with my children in the afternoons. Someone else cooks delicious, nutritious meals for us. And so on…
You might like to try writing out your story too.
And you can keep hold of all these notes – maybe put them in an envelope and tuck them somewhere safe – to check back on later next year.
I’d love to hear how you got on, in the comments…
Annie x
To receive a 50% discount to read Annie’s writing click here:
Thank you, Annie, for the prompts this week; I’ll be back next Sunday with a personal essay on How Failing to Become a Sunday Times Business Bestseller led to me making a few thousand pounds.
Lucy x
P.S. If you want a nose at my 2024 goals, I made a reel about them here.
Love this Annie and Lucy! Interesting concept of writing from the future present conditional 🤗 I will try it this week.
Last year I made my reflection2022/ plans2023 in November and worked on it here and there until jan2023. It was a great exercise and although I haven't went back to it in 2023 I opened it just last night and I was surprised how much I achieved from my plans.
Next year I plan to put my yearly and quaterly goals into my weekly Trello so I can actually have them in front of me every day.
Thanks for this article ladies. Inspiring!