How to make a positive review of your year

Temperatures are dropping, Mariah Carey is waking up, and Christmas lights are adorning the streets: the end of the year is here. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, or not, this closing of the cycle invites you to rest and introspection.

This is the time of year when we look back on the past 12 months and set our aspirations for the next 365 days. At Puissante, we invite you to close out December with joy and self-love . We'll show you how to take stock positively, with a focus on pleasure. 

Why do an end-of-year review?

Let he who has never said, "What? We're already in [insert current month]? The year is flying by!" cast the first stone. As the holiday season approaches, the observation is often the same: the last 12 months have flown by at a dizzying pace .

We sometimes regret not having given ourselves the means to be as productive as the success stories that haunt our Instagram or TikTok feed.

A positive assessment shows us that YES, we have accomplished things this year , that we have experienced some wonderful moments and that we have grown.

December is the best time to learn lessons, list your pride and gratitude before diving headfirst into the new year and its goals.

To take advantage of this perspective throughout the year, you can also plan a retrospective every quarter, every month or every week. 

1. Collect the best moments

Once you've settled into the cozy atmosphere with a hot drink and a favorite notebook, it's time to get started!

Let's start gently by making a list of the best moments of the past year . Don't blindly trust your memory; it will tend to overlook the positive and focus on the difficult circumstances.

That's how our brain works. Its job is to keep us alive and therefore to solve the problems that arise over the months. A positive event requires less effort to process, so it has more difficulty finding it in its inventory.

Go back through your social media posts, your smartphone's photo archives, and bring out the images exchanged with your loved ones to rediscover memories filled with good vibes.

Once you've made your list of the best moments of the year, take a moment to savor them once again. Gratitude is a simple practice that guides us toward more optimism in life!

2. Take stock of your actions

Your sources of pride

After the good memories, it's time to look back at the events that you helped to create.

• What are you most proud of?

• What are some smaller sources of pride that you haven't yet noticed?

• What have you accomplished this year?

• What goal, big or small, have you achieved?

• What worked for you?

• How could you modify or eliminate what worked less well?

Pride is not always about tangible accomplishments; it can resemble first steps or changes in perspective.

For example, you might be happy to no longer see your stretch marks as a flaw . Proud to no longer wait for true love to dare to pamper yourself . Or simply proud of having managed to keep your sock drawer tidy all year round. Well done!

What you have learned

All great women and men will tell you, learning is the key to self-realization and fulfillment.

In one year, we learn about ourselves as well as the world around us. We also develop new skills and are enlightened by the knowledge of others.

Let's review what you've learned in the last few months .

• In what ways are you a different person than you were a year ago?

• What professional or personal skills have you acquired?

• What have you learned about your habits and how you operate?

• Have you explored your pleasure a little more? If that's one of your resolutions, go here.

• How do you see the world today?

Taking stock of your actions is a golden opportunity to celebrate what you haven't had time to celebrate before. Treat yourself to a moment of self-love, give yourself a gift, do a happy dance. Take this opportunity to say "f*ck" to that imposter syndrome that makes you think it's all just luck. Boo, nasty self-doubt!

3. Your experience

What you love

At Puissante, we champion pleasure as a guide to self-exploration . There's nothing better than taking stock of the moments when we seize life to the fullest to continue discovering ourselves.

• What excited you this year?

• Who made your heart flutter? ( Coco , maybe?)

• In what context did you feel alive?

• What were the moments when time stood still?

The answers to these questions will serve as a compass towards a definition of well-being that reflects your own values. The goal is to keep a short list of things you enjoy so you can practice them as often as possible.

Remember that pleasure is a right; you don't need to make an effort to deserve it. So, go love yourself.

Things you no longer want

Taking stock of one's year also means looking at mistakes and setbacks .

Taking note of what you liked less allows you to plan a solution so that the situation doesn't happen again. Next to each point, you can write down how to improve the situation in the most concrete way possible.

You have the choice between acquiring new skills, asking for help, or eliminating what is giving you trouble.

If you're experiencing regrets, embrace them with the utmost self-compassion. Whether it's regret for having done something or not doing something, this uncomfortable feeling points us in the right direction for the coming year.

While joy and pleasure tell you where to go, regrets show us what you wish to avoid or improve. 

The holiday season offers you the opportunity to reflect on your personal and professional growth. December and January are the perfect months to give yourself a good dose of love and start the new year full of positive vibes. To keep the momentum going, we've prepared an article for you on making resolutions without the pressure !