How to Do a Monthly Review

I started a practice of doing personal reviews earlier this year. I found it so enriching and fulfilling that I’ve naturally continued it, weekly, since February. I do a monthly review and a weekly review. Since this is start of a new month, I’ll focus on how to do a monthly review. My monthly reviews are an opportunity to look at how much I have to celebrate this month. They affirm for me where I’ve grown, improved and also highlight things that I want to do differently. 

They are a form of self-care/soul care, really, because they are an opportunity to acknowledge my deepest desires and values. 

Here are the steps: 

1. Pull out your 30-day calendar for the month.

   I print out one sheet for each month from print-a-calendar.com and I always have 3 months up on my walls. At the end of the month, I pull down the month that is over and look at my the highlights. On my October calendar, I have post-its on it for days I took off, days I was filming and days I went on autumn road trips. These were things that took up a whole day and that I looked forward to. I take a moment to just say to myself, “YES, I did that. I remember that. I’m so proud of myself for making that happen.” 

2. Make a list of the categories you want to review.

   My categories are listed below. It changes each month, depending on what I’m going through, but this is the gist of it. 

3. For each category of your life, make note of things for celebration, gratitude and improvement.

   Its important you do all three parts of this. Celebrate your successes, no matter how big or small. Note what you’re grateful for. Consider how you could improve.
   
   Here’s a sample from my Monthly Review: 

   •  Spiritual: How connected did I feel to God this month? 

   • Work: How did I do at my jobs? Am I satisfied with how I showed up? 

   • AWL Media: How did it go?! (This is one of my favourite categories to review. :)

   • Books & Growth: What books did I read? What books didn’t I get to? Do I want to let those unread books go? What do I want to read about next month? 

   • Play: This is an area I need to work on! :P What am I doing just for fun? Did I play piano, sing and dance this month? 

   • Rest: Did I give myself enough time to rest? How can I rest more?

   • Physical health: How much did I work and exercise this month? What is enough, too much or not enough? What would my body like for next month? 

   • Soul care: Am I taking care of my soul? What self/soul-nurturing activities did I do this month that filled me up? What do I want more of?

   • Filming: What did I film this month? What videos did I finish? Celebrate! :) 

   • Generosity: What did I do with God’s money this month? Did I give it away when I sensed that I was supposed to? Did I stretch my generosity muscle this month? Yes! 

   • Social/Relationships: Did I see friends this month? Did I love on my parents?
     

4. Reflect on where you exceeded your expectations.

   I’d set a goal to do one days of filming the studio sessions, and I ended up doing two! This is a huge accomplishment for me and it’s a result or me writing in the mornings. I published 18 blogs in October. 18!?!?! This was also because I started writing in the morning, and I don’t like to let writing accumulate. I know that these 18 blogs are not edited to perfection. Please forgive all the typos. I just knew that if I held onto them to edit to perfection. They might never get out. I’m still ironing out my editing and writing process so that it can be smoother, but I’m personally very satisfied that I chose to hit publish instead of wait for perfection. I’m a mover and I need to keep things moving. The errors might annoy some people… but it’s my blog. :) 

How To Know It’s Working:

Once you’re satisfied with what you’ve uncovered looking back, you should feel very proud of yourself (from all the celebration!), grateful and excited for what the next month holds. 

If you don’t feel proud of yourself, grateful and eager, then you need to keep digging. It may mean that you’ve only focused on the negative. It’s important to dig for your accomplishments! This isn’t about being egotistical, it’s about recognizing that you are valuable no matter what the world tells you.  

Looking Ahead: 

Based on what I’ve discovered in my personal reflection, I made notes for what I want to do differently next month. As much as possible, I made decisions for each category: 

• How much will I film next month? 

• How much will I work out? 

• What do I want to do differently at my jobs? 

• And on and on for each category. 

This sets me up to live my next month with my eyes wide open. I’m not on autopilot. I’m also acutely aware of my strengths and weaknesses and how I can grow. This is exactly the kind of thing that a coach would do with you, but this process even more powerful because you can your coach with you all the time -- it’s you! 

These monthly reviews are so enriching for me. I hope that you’ll integrate this practice into your life! Please feel free to let me know if you do! I’d love to hear how it goes for you!