There are many ways to map a life. One is by the arenas in which we live. Ask yourself, what did you aspire for in each of the following arenas or buckets of your life? How did you do realizing those aspirations?

Health

Spirit

Life Work

Relationships

Play

Finances

Example: I’ve struggled with my health for the past 4 years- anemia, depression, running injuries, 65 pound weight gain.

Under “Health” I would write:

Aspirations: Eat to Live Nutritarian, Exercise 1+hour per day, lose 75 pounds.

Reality Check:  I ate Nutritarian much more than last year, but when I traveled I fell off the wagon with mega junk food.  I did introduced daily green smoothies to get in a pound of raw greens every day. I’ll take that as a victory. Exercise was in spurts, averaging about 10,000 steps per day, but not regular unless I wore the Fit Bit, which really helped. I also took vitamins every day. Most importantly, though, by the fall, coinciding with the vitamins, smoothie, and moving back into my own house, for the first time in 4 years, I really started to feel like myself again. Actually happy. Cozy. Enjoying life.

The net: I lost 18 pounds, exercised more, and regained my sense of self. Hello. Huge progress.

It’s easy to beat yourself up for falling short of goals. Make sure you take the space to celebrate progress! And be real about specifically where and why you fell short, so you can move even further forward next year.