year-in-review

Year in Review

The problem with New Year's resolutions is they're a wish-list with no diagnosis — so they fail. This runs the review a good operator runs on a project, pointed at your year: what actually happened (not the highlight reel), where your energy went, what you'd repeat and stop, and a single organising theme that makes next year's dozens of small choices easier. One theme beats twelve resolutions.

What This Skill Produces

• The retrospective — the year in the domains that matter to you (work, health, relationships, money, growth), honestly
• The energy audit — what consistently gave energy vs. drained it (the most useful and most skipped part)
• The misses — what didn't happen and the real reason, without self-flagellation
• Next year's theme — one organising word/phrase, plus 3–5 concrete commitments tied to it

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The raw material — highs, lows, big changes, and anything you're proud of or avoiding (a brain-dump is fine)
• The domains you care about — so the review reflects your life, not a generic template
• How last year's goals went — if you set any (be honest about the gap)
• Constraints for next year — anything fixed (a move, a baby, a health issue) that shapes what's realistic

Framework: Diagnose, Then Direct

1. Facts before feelings. What actually happened this year, listed plainly, before judging it.
2. Energy is the signal. What gave energy and what drained it predicts next year better than any goal — audit it explicitly.
3. Misses get a real reason. Not "I was lazy" — the actual constraint (no time, wrong system, wrong goal). Reasons are actionable; shame isn't.
4. One theme, not a list. A single organising idea ("build, don't polish"; "less, better") makes small decisions automatic all year.
5. Commitments, not resolutions. 3–5 concrete, checkable actions tied to the theme — fewer than you want.

Output Format

[Year] in Review — [name]

One-line summary of the year: …

What happened (by domain)

| Domain | Highs | Lows | What I learned |

|---|---|---|---|

Energy audit

• Gave energy: … · Drained energy: … · The pattern: …

Honest misses

• [what] — the real reason — what it tells me

[Next year]: the theme

> One organising phrase.

Commitments (3–5):

1. [concrete, checkable action tied to the theme]

Quality Checks

• [ ] The review lists what actually happened before evaluating it
• [ ] The energy audit is present and specific — not skipped
• [ ] Misses get an actionable reason, not self-blame
• [ ] There is exactly one theme, not a scattered list
• [ ] Commitments are few, concrete, and tied to the theme
• [ ] Next-year plan respects the stated constraints

Anti-Patterns

• A highlight reel that skips the misses — the review's value is in the honesty.
• Twelve resolutions with no organising theme — they compete and die.
• "I was lazy" as a reason — find the real constraint.
• Vague commitments ("get healthier") with no checkable action.
• Ignoring energy — the most predictive signal, most often left out.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Run a personal year in review with me."
• "Help me reflect on this year and plan next year."
• "I want a yearly reflection — not just resolutions."
• "Do an energy audit of my year and give me one theme."