An Effective Way of Looking at the New Year... With a Printable Worksheet!

By the time 2014 came to and end Shay and I had already done a lot of chasing. For this reason, last year we decided to keep our New Year's Eve plans simple. We made last minute reservations (literally, I called a BYOB sushi place at 4:00 to reserve a table for 8:00), had dinner together, and then we went to a neighborhood dive bar for the countdown. It was one of the best New Year's Eves we've ever had!

One of the things that made that night fun was the fact that we brought our New Year's goals to dinner and shared them with each other. We spent time reflecting on the past year, and then we talked about the future. Oddly enough, we learned a lot about each other that night. It brought us closer, and helped us start 2015 off on the right foot. 

We decided for this New Year's Eve we're going to do the same thing: get dinner, talk about the past year, and share our goals with each other for the coming year. 

Last year I filled out a worksheet that I found online and brought it to dinner. This year I decided to make my own, using bits from the other for inspiration, and adding my own personal touches (download available at the bottom of this post). 

The first half of the page is looking back on 2015 and the second half of the page is looking forward into 2016. I've listed things like: books I read/want to read & ways I gave back/want to give back, etc. This is meant to dig a little deeper and not just set surface level goals. There’s also a section in both the “Looking Back” and “Looking Forward” where you can establish a “Theme” for the year. Maybe after filling out all of the fields, something will jump out as a common focus. 

For those of you that are rolling your eyes over this, I totally get it - trust me. I never really believed in setting goals, and whenever I did set them, they were always vague and seemed unattainable. However, after reviewing the worksheet I filled out last year, I realized that I achieved most of the things I set out to do, and I feel good about the way 2015 panned out. Now, I find it really empowering to write these kinds of things down. The written idea becomes a kind of roadmap for the year, and sharing these ideas out loud at dinner has the power to make them a reality. 

Click the button below to download the PDF. I hope that you find it useful! Happy New Year!