It’s that time of the year again when you might want to look back to take stock of how the year has gone, think about what has gone well and what hasn’t, what you’ve achieved and what you would like to see happen in the coming year. If you’re single, you may have had a view of what you wanted to achieve this year. Meeting someone special is an obvious one, but the steps to get there might have been on your to-do list too.
Personally, this year has been an interesting one, as I returned to work after maternity leave following the birth of my baby. I had some ambitious ideas about what I wanted to achieve as I returned to work, but reality soon set in as I realised that working full-time and being a mum is no piece of cake!
I had to adjust my mindset quickly. I’ve had to accept that life doesn’t always go to plan and give myself grace in areas where I haven’t quite achieved what I hoped to. Having said that, I still have goals and ambitions I’m gradually working on, as well as dreams for the coming year.
1. Look back
What were your plans and hopes this year? Maybe you made a decision to go to more social events, find and stick with a hobby, go speed dating, or even join a dating site. But perhaps somewhere along the way, that didn’t quite happen – or maybe it did, but didn’t end the way that you were hoping it would.
I would encourage you not to give up. A wedding invitation I had this year was from a childhood friend who had been single for years and was looking to get married. She eventually decided to ‘get serious’ about it and took practical steps, such as joining a dating site and attending more social events.
She met several people and went on different dates, eventually meeting her husband. She strongly believes that the decision to get serious with her dating life changed her focus and outlook and helped prepare her for when he eventually came on the scene.
2. Take stock
Whilst taking stock of the past year, you might want to reflect on what didn’t go so well. Perhaps you made some choices this year that you wish you could take back. Or certain situations revealed areas of your life that you realise you still need to work on.
Whether this relates to relationships or not, it is important to remember that tomorrow is a new day, and you can always start again. If you’ve made some not-so-smart choices in your dating life or otherwise, learn from those mistakes and try not to make them again. If there are areas where some improvement would help, take the necessary steps to ensure that they are prioritised in the coming year.
Reflecting on the past is good because it allows us to be grateful for the positives whilst also learning from the not so positive. But focusing on the future is even more important, because we can determine how it turns out (as much as is within our control).
3. Start planning
So, have you thought about what you would like to see happen in the coming year?
A good way to plan out your year ahead is to split your goals into different categories like, relationships, spiritual, career, financial, and more. For each goal, you can put down steps to achieve that goal.
For example, under ‘relationships’, you might want to put down something like ‘sign up to a dating site’, or ‘attend one singles event every month’. Under ‘spiritual’ could be something like ‘read the Bible in one year’ or ‘attend church prayer meeting weekly’. Writing out your goals for the year is helpful because it allows you to see it in black and white, and you can go back to it regularly to keep yourself accountable.
Reflecting on the past year is a great way to think about what has gone well and what hasn’t. It’s an opportunity to learn from mistakes but also put some plans in place to get you closer to what you would like to see happen in the coming year. So, take stock, be proactive and be hopeful that the coming year will be even better than the one that has been.
Enjoyed reading ‘3 simple steps to take stock of the year and plan for the future’? Read more by Urenna Kiwanuka here, and read the story of how Urenna met her husband on Christian Connection – ‘“Everything he wrote made me want to know more about him” – Rob & Urenna’s Christian Connection story’
