The 4 Questions I Ask at Year-End

We’re ending off the year with some soul-searching…to an extent!

An end-of-year review is a typical business practice; you gather your numbers, examine the trends, and assess your growth. 

And all that data is great, more than great, but there’s an extra piece of the puzzle.

You.

Your self-reflection is just as important and necessary to truly understand you and your business’s growth. Which is why I ask myself these four questions:

What were your goals, and did you achieve them?

Now that the end of the year is here, it’s time to reflect on the goals that you set at the beginning of the year. 

The results shouldn’t be a surprise on whether or not you were successful, because you tracked and managed your progress and efforts. However, this reflection is about deciding whether to push those goals further or continue growing in that area, whether it’s growing your team, expanding your following, increasing your revenue, etc. 

What didn’t go according to plan this year, and how would you handle that differently?

A lot can happen in a year, as we all know. In your end-of-year review, it’s important to acknowledge your wins, your missteps and your chaos. Chaos is the things that you can’t control, but what we can control when faced with chaos is our responses.

Take a moment to think about the times over the last year when you were faced with those uncontrollable variables. How did you respond? How did you act? React?

The goal of this is to understand how you can improve your adaptability and resiliency during change that will best equip you and your team for next year, because life is full of chaos and unpredictability, and the only thing we can control is ourselves.

What is one thing you want to stop doing and one thing you want to start doing?

Forget “New Year's resolutions”, no one sticks to them anyway!

Everyone loves that new year energy; it’s a great time to reset, realign, and redirect ourselves. So, instead, I like to choose my “start” and “stop” for the year, AND then attach a plan to it.

First, I consider one thing I want to stop doing. Maybe it’s negative self-talk, and in that case, I create a system for myself to replace negative thought-cycles with positive ones through reminders, either physically (e.g. sticky notes, dry-erase board) or digitally (e.g. reminder apps or scheduled reminders in my calendar). 

Then, I move to what I want to start doing. My “start” could be to film more reels for Signal Operations’ Instagram, so then I would create a routine for filming, having a member on my team hold me accountable to the routine I set.

BUT the important thing is that you attach a plan to what you’re starting or stopping, otherwise change won’t happen, and you’ll be in the same place you were, wishing for something to change without doing any of the work to change it.

What did you learn about yourself? Your team? Your clients?

The last bit of reflection is all about learning, but nothing you could learn in a book or a webinar!

Look inward first. What’s different about you? What’s new about yourself? How are you different as a leader? A business owner? A person? Change is neither good nor bad; it just is, but it’s what we do with that change that shows other people who we are. Maybe you found that this year you felt more stressed, irritated, and depleted. Go deeper, ask yourself the “why” to get to the core of that, so you can make the changes necessary to bring back joy, confidence, and reenergize yourself.

Then, look outward. What are 1-3 things you learned about your team and your clients this year? Did their values change? Did their needs change? Were you more connected or less? The better you understand the people around you and the more you listen and observe, the easier it will be to notice the people trends in your business. 

An end-of-year reflection is an essential tool for a business owner, but oftentimes, we’re so engrossed in the numbers, we forget the most important part: our experience. 

Like I said, a lot can happen in a year, and each day is filled with moments that shape who we are, as entrepreneurs and people, so it’s just as critical to review these moments and take the time to understand ourselves more clearly. This way, we ensure that we show up as ourselves, not a reaction of chaos.

And that’s the commitment I make to myself, my team, and my clients every year.

See you in 2026!