Reflect and Refocus: Preparing for the Year Ahead
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Reflect and Refocus: Preparing for the Year Ahead As one season ends and another begins, taking time to reflect on the past year is a powerful way to prepare for what’s ahead. Reflection allows you to celebrate your wins, learn from your challenges, and realign your goals with God’s purpose for your life.
Why Reflection is Essential
1. Assess Your Progress: Understand which goals you accomplished and where adjustments are needed.
2. Celebrate Growth: Acknowledge how far you’ve come in your spiritual and personal development.
3. Clarify Priorities: Use lessons learned to refine your focus for the upcoming year.
4. Deepen Your Faith: See how God has worked in and through you, strengthening your trust in His plan.
The following prompts, inspired by the Virtuous Living Planner by Lisa Michele, can guide your time of reflection:
• Which goals did you achieve, and which ones fell short in 2024?
Take note of your wins and identify what obstacles may have hindered other goals.
• How did you grow or develop spiritually and personally in 2024?
Reflect on areas where you matured in your faith, relationships, or habits.
• In what ways was your Word of the Year manifested in your life during 2024?
Did your word guide your decisions, actions, and mindset throughout the year?
• What are your priorities moving forward based on your reflections from 2024?
Use these insights to shape your focus for 2025.
Practical Steps to Reflect and Refocus
1. Set Aside Quiet Time: Create a distraction-free space to connect with God and review your year.
2. Write it Down: Use the Reflection page to document your thoughts and answers.
3. Pray Over Your Reflections: Ask God for wisdom and clarity as you prepare for the new year.
4. Create Actionable Goals: From your reflections, set goals that align with your priorities and Kingdom purpose.
A Fresh Start Awaits
By reflecting on the past year, you’re setting yourself up for a more intentional, focused, and God-led future. Take time to seek Him as you plan your 2025, knowing that every step of your journey is part of His greater plan.
Looking back can be a powerful tool for planning forward. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Share in the comments below how reflecting on the past has helped you set goals or gain clarity for the future.
Reflect, Refocus, and Move Forward in Faith!
Your Sister in Christ,
Lisa Michele
Creator, Virtuous Living Planner
2 comments
I have a tendency to procrastinate when needing to complete a task that seems unattainable. Just the thought of “You can start a fresh, it’s a new day!” I would contemplate on how hard or how long, my last failure…!
But you have given some very motivating and encouraging steps/tools to jump start and keep me focused on the task! Being aware of my past helps me appreciate my
progress towards my future.
🙏🏾🙌🏾
This is so helpful. Sometimes I struggle with condemnation when I look back. With this guide I feel it gives me a healthy structured way to look at where I misses the mark and how tor re-focus for the coming year.