Often personal development material focuses on goals and intentions as the keys to success. It is just as important, though, to take the time to regularly review your life. I like to do a short review of my day each night, but once a week I like to take extra time to drawback and get a bigger picture of how things are traveling.
Whilst the number of questions in this article is an arbitrary number, there is a specific purpose to making this review session weekly. The questions in this weekly review will allow you to rise above what is, in my opinion, the sometimes limiting perspective of a single day. Here then are 7 questions to end your week with:
1. What did I fail?
Hopefully something. In my opinion, failure is the price of ambition. If you are not failing regularly, there is a good chance that you are not growing.
2. What am I resisting?
Often in life there are things to be done that are important, but because they are not urgent or enjoyable we resist doing them. Try to identify what you are resisting, then tackle it early in the coming week.
3. What did I do well?
It’s so important to recognize and celebrate our successes. A mental pat on the back feels great, and is likely to help you do well again in the coming week.
4. What can I do better?
If something didn’t work out for you this week , don’t dwell on it too much. Instead, turn in into a positive by focusing on what you can learn from the experience and how you can do better.
5. Did I live in alignment with my values and principles?
Another way to ask this question is: were you the person you want to be during the past week? If you are unclear on what exactly your values and principles are, I strongly suggest taking the time to write a personal mission statement. I am one of those people who typically skip the exercises in self-help books, but this was one I actually did and it has been life changing.
6. Did I get closer to achieving my short, medium, and long-term goals?
Often time goes so quick that you wonder where the week went. Still, it’s good to feel as if you have at least made progress towards achieving your goals. Remember, small steps can lead to big outcomes in the medium to long term.
7. What am I grateful for?
Often as human beings we get so caught up in wanting more that we forget what we have. Don’t take your friends, family, and health for granted – these are some of the most important things in life and cannot be replaced with money.
Excellent way to stay focused and learn from every experience!
Stephanie, as an Australian who has just moved to Canada this will be my first Thanksgiving! I’m sure I will have fun, anything that involves a holiday is fine by me…. :)
A review of recent experience is good, whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly. It can help you to figure out where you can do better… and you have listed good questions to use in such an evaluation.
Peter – great list! And perfect timing to reflect is the end of the “work” week. Number 2 is always the one I have to work with constantly. I feel though that since I accepted my journey, I do acknowledge that I resist things that are not enjoyable but it sure doesn’t make them go away!! Number 7, I reflect everyday. We should all take time to be grateful for even the smallest.
Have a wonderful weekend and happy thanksgiving if you are in Canada as I am.
Your talk about writing down if you got closer to your goals reminds me of when I was working. Whenever a progress report was due I would think, “I haven’t done anything!” Then I got in the habit of keeping a log book each day. It turns out I was getting a lot done…I was just so immersed in my work I couldn’t remember. A weekly review wouldn’t have helped that much. I do tend to get fully involved. And I do accomplish a lot.
One question about the pictures you use…some of them seem to have all rights reserved. Is it legal to use them even though they’re listed as public on Flickr? I’ve been restricting myself to ones with a Creative Commons license, but there are a lot I would love to use that don’t seem to have given me permission. Thanks.
Love it – great list Peter. It’s an excellent way of regularly referring to your Personal Mission Statement and making sure everything’s on track.
Excellent list! I would love to pose a question to everyone. I am a very goal oriented person – but I hardly ever make goals because I cannot stand failure. Blame it on my childhood or other psychological trauma in my past :). This leads to a cycle of not creating goals and not reviewing them for fear of failure. What are some tips for dealing with not reaching goals. Thanks for another great post!
Jean: I must admit to being a bit naive about Creative Commons licensing. I will look into it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Will: glad you enjoyed it :) . Some quick tips: first, make sure the goals are realistic both in terms of outcome and time for completion when you set them. Second, if you don’t reach a goal, be gentle but truthful with yourself. There is no point dwelling too much on what you didn’t accomplish. At the same time, don’t ignore it as it provides a great learning experience. Here’s an analogy for you: when you are driving a car, most of the time you will be looking forwards. But occasionally you need to check in the rear view mirror to make sure everything is ok (eg to change lanes).
This site just continues to excell.
7 questions I feel we should all ask ourselves, perhaps even on a daily basis.
Thanks Peter!
I can’t prove it but I believe this is taken directly out of a Anthony Robbins book.
Ben, I can honestly say I have never read/ listened to anything by Anthony Robbins (I want to get my hands on “Awaken the Giant Within” though as I hear it is great). I give the credit to Stephen Covey for the idea of a weekly review – the questions, however, are all mine.
Thanks for the inspiration Peter. Sometimes all it takes to get a positive mindset back is to read positive ideas. I like to do so regularly. My dad sent me this link and I’m glad he did.
Mike: it’s a pleasure. Positive feedback such as yours is what keeps me writing. Funnily enough, I woke up this morning and asked myself: “what am I resisting?” There have been a few things – but by recognizing this I made some good headway on them today.
Excellent questions to ask.
Thank you for this. I love the simplicity and the smart questions to ask yourself. I’m always questioning how I can do something better- just hadn’t thought of it this way.
Kool one.
Great way of tracking the action’s.
By this we not only can correct ourselves however can take corrective actions then and their.
Wow.
Regards,
Zulfi