At the end of a year and before the next begins, it is a good idea to spend some time ‘taking stock’ of our lives. During the next few days, get your journal or a notebook, go and sit in a quiet place and contemplate. Then make two lists.

List 1

List the following in your ‘To think about’ list:

• Difficult choices you had to make;
• Changes that occurred in your private and working life;
• Mistakes you made;
• Names of people you have to ask forgiveness for or to forgive. (Then forgive them.)
• Bad things that happened to you or around you;
• Problems you have that is still unsolved;
• Good surprises;
• Good things that happened to you or around you; and
• Things you are thankful for.

Take Time to Think in Between

Take some time to think these things over. If you have gone through an exercise like this last year, go through your lists and mark the things that you wanted to do, but didn’t.

List 2 

Make another ‘To do’ list about the following:

• Things that you really wanted to do during the last year, but didn’t;
• Things you want to change – personal and workwise;
• A few things on your ‘bucket list’ you want to do the coming year;
• Things you want to do for someone else; and
• Solutions to solve those unsolved problems from your first list.

Get into Some Creative Action

• Now that your head is (hopefully) clearer, turn the page of your journal or notebook and write down as many story ideas you can think of if you are a fiction writer.
• If you are a non-fiction writer, jot down ideas for articles, booklets etc.
• From then on, take one idea per day from your last list and free write about it.
• After free writing, tackle one thing on your ‘to do’ list and write down what you are going to do about it. Write down small goals and keep to it. Revisit this list weekly to see how you progress and make adjustments if needed.
• After you have done this, take time to sit somewhere quiet to think and relax.
• Spend some time with your loved ones.
• Make a habit of these four steps by repeating it at least weekly.

Enjoy your time of rest.

 

© 2014

I, Fielies (Riëtte) De Kock tries hard to be a Proverbs 31-woman – excellentest wife, finest mom, greatest lover and successful ‘wordpreneur’ all at the same time. I temporarily share my living space in Cairo, Egypt with my husband, almost-university-student son, the building’s ginger cat – and the space in my head with way too many ideas and multitudes of story characters to live as a normal functioning human being.