Year in Review: Taking Stock of Your Health – Zenwise Year in Review: Taking Stock of Your Health – Zenwise
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Year in Review: Taking Stock of Your Health


We’re days, if not hours, away from saying goodbye to 2022. And while you might want to move on and try to forget that the past 12 months ever happened, that would be a mistake. You can’t set goals without a realistic starting point. Enter: the annual personal review. 

“The only way to keep up with the pace of life is to stop,” writes Tracy Kennedy in Lifehack.org. “To hop off the treadmill. To reflect on what’s working and what’s not.”

Importantly, this practice will help you uncover insights and set better goals for next year. Reflect on all you’ve accomplished in the last 12 months. You can apply this to every facet of your life, e.g., career, family, and volunteer contributions.

But for this blog, let’s focus on your health and well-being. 

What goals did you accomplish? What resolutions were harder to work on? What made them difficult? Be honest with yourself and be kind as well—knowing how and why you could or couldn’t keep a resolution is how you succeed the next time.

This act of self-reflection reveals many benefits. It helps improve self-awareness, provides perspective, improves confidence, and challenges your assumptions. 

There’s no right or wrong way to do this. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to launching your year in review. 

There are plenty of online resources that offer templates for this practice. But really, all you need is a blank notebook (either physical or digital) to get you going.


Setting Up Self-Evaluation

Find a quiet time, make a cup of tea and be alone with your thoughts. Pro Tip: Sometimes, the best ideas come when you’re moving. Take a meditative walk and ditch the headphones so you can focus. And leave remorse at the door; this is all about learning and moving forward.


Here are a few questions to start mulling over.

  1. What was your biggest health concern in 2022? What action did you take to deal with it? Perhaps, you were concerned about high blood pressure, so you started exercising regularly and eating healthfully. 

  2. What simple lifestyle changes made you feel better or worse in 2022? How can I keep the momentum going? 

  3. What 2022 goal did I achieve and how? Conversely, which ones went south and why? There may be valid reasons for your shortcomings.  For instance, your health may suffer if you’re focusing on career growth. The 4x-a-week workout resolution may not be realistic.

  4. What are some actionable goals? For instance, have you been putting off making critical medical or mental health appointments, i.e., your annual physical, mammogram, or pap smear? Sometimes, all you need to do is get the ball rolling. 

  5. Additionally, consider what kinds of goals you’re setting. Were they huge, lofty, and vague ideas with no concrete plan? Were they actionable? Did you genuinely enjoy doing them? Breaking up large goals like “I want to lose weight” into “I want to exercise three times a week” sets you up for success that’s within reach and reasonable. – Melissa Boudin, PsyD, writes in ChoosingTherapy.com

After conducting your annual health review, you’re better positioned to make a realistic resolution or goal. 

For more information about goal setting and improving your health, visit the Zenwise® website. 

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