NEW YEAR'S JOURNAL PROCESS
Victor and I do this process every New Year’s Eve. It can be done alone, with a spouse or partner, or as a family ritual. There are no specific “rules” for doing it right. The point is to set aside time each year to write down everything of importance that has happened during the past year and your goals for the coming year.
What you need:
• A bound journal or spiral notebook
• A pen or pencil
• A quiet space where you can be undisturbed
We always begin our process with a short prayer asking our angels to help us remember all the events that were important to us during the past year.
Start your journal by dating the first page so you know the year you began
the journal. You can use the same journal every year until it is filled.
If you decide to use the same journal each year, be sure to leave a few
blank pages between each year’s entries so you can add items later
you may have forgotten to add during the process.
The following is a starter list of activities and experiences you might
want to document in your journal. (Be sure to add any other topic to this
list that is important to you). Title each page with the topic you are covering
and always leave a couple of blank pages between each topic to allow space
to add things that come to mind later.
- Family Events (births, deaths, family reunions, meaningful family
experiences, etc.)
- New People (all the people you have met during the past year
and how they made a difference in your life)
- Trips (all the trips and vacations you have taken and what was
special about each one)
- Activities and Events (all the creative endeavors you have engaged
in over the past year and events you have attended and why each was
meaningful)
- Accomplishments (all the things you have accomplished throughout the year and why these things were important to you)
After Victor and I finish our list, we look at the goals we had written in our journal for the past year and check off those we have accomplished. We then write our goals for the coming year, carrying over any goals from last year that were not yet accomplished or remain unfinished and are still relevant.
When we complete our journal entries, we end with a short prayer of gratitude for the past year and ask for guidance to accomplish the goals we have set forth for the new year.
