New Year is a time to reflect on the passing year. If you are like me; you will have experienced many changes and challenges throughout 2019. I like to take time every January to reflect on the passing year and make goals and challenges for myself. One way to reflect is by using the retrospective idea used in agile software development processes. A retrospective is something you do at the end of a development cycle and in this case that would be the end of the 2019 year.
You can keep this fairly simple by using the following format.
| What went well | What didn’t well | What to improve |
|---|---|---|
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| Goals | ||
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You may find that an annual retrospective may be daunting because you have to reflect on the entire year. I would do it regardless, however; you could do it monthly or at certain milestones throughout your year. If you did it more regularly, then you could always use those retrospectives to build on your annual retrospective. It is a good idea to share your retrospective with a mentor or a manager that can help you be accountable. You will find that if you talk about it with someone, you will be more successful with your goals. Dig deep and be honest with yourself as that is the only way you will be successful in changing habits and improving skills for the next year.
