Yearly

Reflection
Booklet

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 Briefing

Every year, many of us have the practice of doing a retrospective and learning from
the year that is now coming to an end. While it seems a fairly simple exercise, it's
rather seldom done appropriately or in a deep and meaningful way.

Since 2013, I've come to develop and keep evolving meaningful questions that can
lead to a better understanding of oneself, and get ready for a better new year.

This year, I have decided to evolve what was once a blog post into a series of
reflective questions and exercises to help you close the current year and build the
bigger picture for the one ahead.

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 Flow & Required
Context
• Make sure you set time aside for the reflection process.
• You should split the debrief time between the closing of the current year and the build-up
for the upcoming one.
• I would recommend to start with some breathing exercises, get grounded and be in a
peaceful and comfortable environment.

Flow
• First, read the whole booklet and get acquainted with the flow and questions.
• After reading all the questions, do write them down and start answering the questions in
any open format.
• Once you write everything down and reflect, try to compile into main conclusions and group
them. You can also use the presentation (optionally) to type down the final answers.

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

Debrief
Current Year

Yearly Reflection (YR) presentation by Hugo Pereira

0. Moments timeline
Write down or draw your six most impactful moments of the year (both positive or
negative). Describe what they meant to you and how they have affected your behavior.

1 2 3
Moment #1 Moment #2 Moment #3
Describe it Describe it Describe it

4 5 6
Moment #4 Moment #5 Moment #6
Describe it Describe it Describe it

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

1. When was I at my very best?
Now, that you know your jot down your most impactful moments, think about when you
were at your very best.

Describe this moment and be precise. Don’t

spare on the details!

• What have you achieved?

• How did it feel?
• How did it affect others?
• What environment was around you?
• What can you do to make it happen more often?
• …

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

2. When was I at my lowest?
It’s not only about the high’s but also the low’s. When were you at your lowest point
during the year? What did you learn out of it?

Describe this moment and be precise. Don’t

spare on the details!

• What led you to such moment?

• How did it feel?
• How did it affect others?
• What environment was around you?
• What helped you overcome it?
• …

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 3. What have I discovered about myself?
With the most impactful moments outline, and understanding of your highs and lows,
what are the main things you have learned about yourself.

Discovery #1 Discovery #2 Discovery #3

Write down what the discovery Write down what the discovery Write down what the discovery
was about and what you learn was about and what you learn was about and what you learn
from it from it from it

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 4. Who contributed the most to my growth
as an individual?
Think about the five people that helped you develop the most as an individual during this
year. Describe how they helped you out and write back to them thanking for their
contribution to your development.

Person #1 Person #2 Person #3 Person #4 Person #5

DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW
HE/SHE HELPED HE/SHE HELPED HE/SHE HELPED HE/SHE HELPED HE/SHE HELPED
YOU OUT YOU OUT YOU OUT YOU OUT YOU OUT

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 5. What have I positively contributed for?
52 weeks, 365 days, and ultimately that leads to...? Well, we won’t get deep into this
topic, but our actions should contribute to a higher purpose. So what have you
contributed for from a personal and professional point of view?

[Contribution Headline] [Contribution Headline]

Describe how you positively Personal Professional Describe how you positively
contributed from a personal level contributed from a professional
towards your family, friends, or point of view, at your work or other
overall society surround you. professional activities.

Positive Contribution
General Statement
Here type a general statement that summarizes
the sweet spot between personal and
professional contribution YR presentation by Hugo Pereira
 6. What did I miss to explore?
A year is probably not enough to explore everyone you want. Write down general ideas,
or experiences you missed to explore that are still on your mind. A mind map might be
the perfect tool to answer this question.

Idea 4
Idea 1

Idea 3
Idea 6 Idea 5

Idea 2

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 7. What were this year’s financial
takeaways?
Point blank, just think about how your financial year was and what you learn out of it. If you are
looking for some structure, see below parts of the Business Model Canvas. You can use it to
identify how your personal business model looks like.

Key Activities
What you do that creates costs and/or generates revenue

Cost Structure Revenue Streams

Categories with highest expenditure Recurring, one-time off, or other sources of income

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

8. What is worth continuing fight for and
what do I have to let go?
At the end of yearly review, think about what is worth investing time on and what do you
need to let go. This can be anything from sports, learning areas, health, experiences, etc.

WORTH
• Social Media (E.g.
Time on social
• Sports (E.g. Tennis classes) networks)
• Languages (E.g. Fluency in • …
Spanish)
• Writing (E.g. Blogging) LET GO
• …

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

Build
Next Year’s
Vision

Yearly Reflection (YR) presentation by Hugo Pereira

 0. Your Milestones
Write down or draw your six most impactful moments of your next year. Envision what
type of experiences and milestones you want to achieve in no chronological order.

Milestone #1 Milestone #3 Milestone #5

1 Describe or draw it 3 Describe or draw it 5 Describe or draw it

Milestone #2 Milestone #4 Milestone #6

Describe or draw it 2 Describe or draw it 4 Describe or draw it 6

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 1. Your Learning Plan
Describe the learning areas that you want to invest your time on during next year. These
learning areas are blocks should help you evolve to become an even better person and
professional.

LEARNING AREA #1
1 Describe it

2 3 2
LEARNING AREA #1
Describe it

4 3 LEARNING AREA #3
Describe it

1 5 4 LEARNING AREA #4
Describe it

LEARNING AREA #5
5 Describe it

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 2. Your Expertise
It’s important to keep evolving and build influence around certain areas of expertise.
Think about what you have gained expertise on (or are gaining) and how you can
showcase it more often.

03
New area of expertise you
will feel you are gaining and
want to practice more often
01 Primary expertise you will
put in practice and/or
showcase to the world, via
writing, occasional sharing or
participating in forums, for
example.

Secondary expertise you will

put in practice and/or share
with the closest people to
you (work, personal, etc.)
02

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 3. Your Network
Think about the five people that you will need the most help with to achieve your vision
for the upcoming year. Describe how they can help you out.

Person #1 Person #2 Person #3 Person #4 Person #5

DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW DESCRIBE HOW
HE/SHE CAN HE/SHE CAN HE/SHE CAN HE/SHE CAN HE/SHE CAN
HELP YOU OUT HELP YOU OUT HELP YOU OUT HELP YOU OUT HELP YOU OUT

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 4. Your Experiences
Write down general ideas, or experiences you want to explore next year. These can be
big themes like “Exploring new languages” to very specific actions “Travel to South
America”. Again, I recommend the use of a mind map.

Idea 4
Idea 1

Idea 3
Idea 6 Idea 5

Idea 2

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 5. Your [Evolved] Business Model
Using parts of the Business Model Canvas, think about how your business model should
evolve next year. Again, think of your cost structure (what categories have highest
expenditure), revenue streams (recurring and short-term revenue) and key activities (what do
you do that creates costs / generates revenue).

Key Activities
What you do that creates costs and/or generates revenue

Cost Structure Revenue Streams

Categories with highest expenditure Recurring, one-time off, or other sources of income

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira

 6. Your
Purpose
BONUS POINTS!
PAINT, DRAW, OR SELECT A

PERSONAL PICTURE OR SET OF PICTURES

THAT REPRESENT THE YEAR
AHEAD

STATEMENT
Write down a personal statement that can describe your
goals, ambitions, learnings of the upcoming year. Write
them down in past achievement format, e.g. “In X year, I
have achieve ]X,Y,Z] and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes
of [ABC country]! I have learned more about [XXX] and
throughout enjoyed the quality time spent with [family,
partner, brothers, etc.]
Thank
You.

YR presentation by Hugo Pereira