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Consider the past, plan for the future, be present in the present.

Teresa Wiedrick

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A new year. A time to take stock.

Each year, at just this time, I sit with pen and journal, cup of tea and as much time as I can eke out, and answer the thought provoking questions found at the back of the book “the not so big life: making room for what really matters” by Sarah Susanka. This annual process helps me to conglomerate my annual history and plan for my future year.

You might remember Sarah Susanka’s book “the not so big house”, as I shared guiding principles that I used to plan and build our home. Previous, and highly engaged posts found here:

The Not So Big House: Creating the Not So Big House

The Not So Big House: A Place of One’s Own

The Not So Big House: How Big is Not So Big, A Confessional

The Not So Big House: Interior Views

The Not So Big House: Shelter Around Activity

The Not So Big House: Doing Double Duty

The Not So Big House: Ceiling Height Variety

But in Susanka’s book “the not so big life,” I get a chance to think through what matters. And what better time of the year to take stock then now?

Take stock to determine that you are intentionally doing the things you want to do with your life. This is the time of year that you can spend time with your journal and consider the following questions:

Consider your past year:

• How have I spent my time?
• What are the results of the actions I have taken?
• What events, realizations, and understanding have come into being?
• What has inspired me?
• What makes me grateful?
• What were my sorrows and disappointments, and how have they changed me?
• What books have I read this year, and what impact have they had?
• What movies and other entertainments have moved me, and in what ways?
• What journeys have I taken?
• What conditioned patterns have I recognized, and what experiences have allowed me to see them more clearly?

Then engage questions about your present:

• How am I different now from the way I was last year at this time?
• How can I integrate the key lessons of the past year into my life?
• Are there any strategies, phrases, questions or flags that have particular significance for me right now?
• Are there any things I’m trying to force into existence right now? If so, what would happen if I stopped trying to make them happen?
• To what part of myself am I giving birth?
• What am I becoming?
• Has my experience of time changed at all since last year?

Then engage questions about your future:

• Specifically, what is it that I wish to focus on in the coming year?
• If I could sum up all my desires and longings in a straightforward statement spoken from the highest aspect of myself, what would it be?

Then I choose three words to focus my days (thanks Brendon Burchard) for each day of the year. I write these intention words on each daily journal entry and slip them into my iPod as a daily reminder too.

Consider the past, plan for the future, be present in the present.

These questions help us to take stock of where we’ve been and help us plan where we’re going. When we’ve done this, we need to remember that living happens in the present. Practice being present.

“Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past.”

Henry David Thoreau

May this be a useful jumping off point to a successful, satisfying 2020!

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