Reflecting on 2020 and Setting Goals for 2021 (Part 1)
By: Paulina Fin Caprio
Tags: Self Improvement, Compassion, Goals, Love, Self Reflection

Reflecting on 2020 and Setting Goals for 2021 (Part 1)

Photo by Luke Richardson on Unsplash

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we need to be more compassionate with ourselves. This year has been very different — to review it, we need a different mindset. If you want to create a spreadsheet to enter every single accomplishment from this year to help you “crush it” in 2021, this process isn’t for you. I don’t want you to feel you didn’t accomplish enough in 2020 as the backdrop to setting goals for next year.

We don’t know how 2021 will unfold, and it will begin very much like 2020 ends: with plenty of uncertainty. If the next 3–6 months remain murky, why take on goals for a full year? I want to set you up for something attainable.

Spoiler alert: at the end of this exercise, you will be choosing one (or two, if you really insist) goals to work on for the next 4–6 months. We are going to focus our energy, our integrity and our time on the Most. Important. Thing. Right. Now.

I’m not letting you off the hook. Taking on one or two goals is harder than you think, because you can’t hide in having “too many things to work on.” We are also going to get disciplined about what achieving our goal really means in a future article.

Ready? Great. Now let’s get started:

Reflecting on 2020

2020 feels like a blur, and for good reason. Our perception of time and space was challenged and our memories may not hold up. Let’s go back through the year and reconnect with what happened.

One month at a time: what did you do? What was going on? Where were you?

The point is to remember, acknowledge and honor, not to judge. Yes, the judgements will come up (“wait? I started that in February and this is all I have to show for it in December?”). Notice them but don’t let yourself dwell on it.

A few bullet points will suffice for each month; we’re not writing a memoir. You can set up a sheet like this:

January:

February:

March:

*and so on. Keep it simple. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised about what you remember.

Once completed, you are finished with this first section.

Does something feel missing for you?

After I finished this part (of course I’m doing this with you!), I felt a multitude of emotions welling up inside. This prompted me to reflect further…..but it doesn’t have to for you.

Some optional reflections if you are pulled to say more:

* What changed for me during Covid/new things I discovered

* What I miss from my old life

* Things that were planned that couldn’t happen because of Covid

* Things that were not planned that happened because of Covid

* What do I need to grieve

* Add your own question/reflection

Take a moment to honor your experiences in the year that was. Your highs, lows, fears, losses; the things that happened to you, the things that happened around you, the things you could not control, the way you made life better for others and the joy you found in unexpected places.

Join me in Part 2 to ask a few meaningful questions to get us closer to selecting our goals for 2021. In Part 3, the rubber hits the road and you lock in on the goal.