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💡 The Big Idea: A Simple Reflection Framework for Reflecting on the Past Year and Planning the Next One

For better or for worse, 2024 is just about over.

Maybe for you, 2024 was a mighty struggle, and the fact it's ending is a good thing 😂 Or maybe it was amazing, and you want to keep the momentum going in 2025.

Whatever the case, it’s worth spending a little bit of time before the new year starts reflecting on what worked — and what didn’t.

In this newsletter, I’m going to share a simple framework you can use to make sure you don’t just repeat 2024 again and keep moving forward.

The Simple Reflection Framework

There are three questions I ask whenever I spend time reflecting. They are:

• What did I accomplish?
• What went well?
• What could have gone better?

Each of these questions serves a specific purpose.

First, by asking, “What did I accomplish?” you’re forcing yourself to celebrate your wins. It’s easy to forget the progress you’ve made and just focus on the things that are wrong. Answering this question objectively will help you see you did more than you think.

Second, the question “What went well?” helps you to see what’s working. The things you accomplished were the result of the systems in your life, which are perfectly designed to get the results you’ve been getting. So, recognize and preserve what’s working.

Finally, asking, “What could have gone better?” helps you to see the things that need to be changed. But by framing it this way (instead of just asking, “What’s broken?”), you can make small improvements to your systems instead of blowing everything up. This question will illuminate what results were not ideal, and then you can diagnose what parts of your systems led to those results and make small tweaks.

It’s those 1% improvements that lead to compound results.

My 2024 in a Nutshell

As an example, here are a few of the things that come to mind for me as I reflect back on 2024.

What did I accomplish?

• Launched LifeHQ, my signature product
• Led successful Practical PKM and LifeTheme cohorts
• Published a newsletter every single week this year 🎉
• ​YouTube channel was monetized
• Found a new co-host for Bookworm​
• Grew my newsletter to over 7,000 subscribers

What went well?

• The LifeHQ launch was better than expected and helped me gain clarity on my signature product
• My private community is picking up steam, and I’m really happy with the direction it’s headed
• Bookworm and Focused both feel like they are gaining momentum
• Loved coaching middle school soccer this year (might have been my favorite year so far)
• Enjoyed going to conferences like Craft + Commerce and making connections with other creators

What could have gone better?

• Took me a while to get clarity on the direction for my personal brand (Practical PKM)
• Felt like I was drifting for a large portion of 2024 (up until the LifeHQ launch)
• Spent a lot of time doing freelance work, which meant I made less progress on my own projects than I would have liked
• Thrown a few curveballs this year that required me to change direction more than I wanted to
• Had trouble posting YouTube videos consistently
• My social media presence is almost non-existent 😭

Looking Forward to 2025

Once you’re done reflecting on the past, it’s time to think about the future.

I’ve got three more powerful reflection questions that are perfect for this:

• What should I START doing?
• What should I STOP doing?
• What should I KEEP doing?

These questions are purposefully vague to help your brain consider all the available options.

By default, we tend to think inside a box. By removing the constraints (and staying with the questions long enough), you can force your brain to go beyond the obvious answers and come up with some really good stuff.

For example, I spend at least 2 hours thinking about these questions every time I do a Personal Retreat. After about 20 minutes, I usually have a few options listed, and my brain wants to move on to the next thing. It just tries to fill in the blanks.

But I’ve learned that if I just stick with these simple questions long enough, eventually, I get to a different level of thinking about things.

That’s where the really good stuff comes from.

Keep in mind these are just possibilities. You’re not committing to doing all of these things; you’re just brainstorming possible courses of action.

My 2025 Intentions

As an example, here are a few of the things that come to mind for me as I look forward to 2025.

What should I start doing?

• Posting to social media consistently
• Repurposing content for other platforms (I spend a bunch of time writing newsletters, why aren’t I creating threads out of these essays?)
• Sharing takeaways from books I read on social media (I’m already reading the books for Bookworm anyway)
• Working with a video editor (I recognize editing is the bottleneck that keeps me from publishing more frequently)
• Traveling to be around my people more

What should I stop doing?

• Freelance work (as much as possible)
• Working on Saturdays (I need to prioritize margin so I don’t burn myself out)
• Outside sponsorships (I feel I could do more and streamline the process if I brought this in-house)
• Admin work in the mornings (prioritize that time for creating and writing)

What should I keep doing?

• Sending newsletters every week (proud of the content, just need to find a way to repurpose it in other places once I write it)
• 1-on-1s with my kids (I bring a different kid to a coffee shop every week on Mondays; these have been going really well)
• Monthly workshops in The Library (I love how these are going; just had Bob Doto present one on Zettelkasten!)
• Working outside the house (I find I’m much more creative when I go to the coworking space)

Again, these are just options. I’m not committing to all of this.

(FYI, both of these sets of questions come from my Personal Retreat Handbook course. This video course walks through every part of the Personal Retreat and also includes both the Obsidian template and a PDF you can use.)

😎 Something Cool: Funnel 2.0

​Funnel has been one of the best ways to capture things into Obsidian since its initial launch, but the 2.0 update makes a great app even better. Here’s a short list of the improvements:

• You can now transcribe live audio in real-time with the new Voice capture mode
• You can add captions to sketches or images from the camera or media library
• You can toggle the new Continuous Capture mode to stay in capture mode after each capture
• There are now widgets for the Control Center and the Lock Screen, as well as general widget improvements
• There are new Shortcuts actions for starting voice transcriptions or Live Activities

It’s a big update and definitely worth checking out. There’s also a new Lifetime purchase option if you don’t like the idea of subscriptions.

📚 Book Notes: Free Time by Jenny Blake

​Free Time by Jenny Blake is a fantastic book. I got a signed copy when I attended Shawn Blanc’s Focus Course Live event a while back, but I didn’t read it until Cory picked it for Bookworm recently.

This is a great book not just for business owners but for anyone who would like a different approach to thinking about the systems in their life. There is a business framework at the heart of this book, but Jenny does a great job of showing how it can be applied personally as well as professionally.

If you want to download my mind map book notes for this incredible book, click here.

— Mike