In my first ever post, I talked about the passion planner monthly reflection, which you can download for free by following the hyperlinked text. I never used to do monthly reflections. Instead, I would just go into a new month with high hopes and unrealistic goals. When I was unable to achieve any of them I would get frustrated. My attitude towards my goals was also not helping me. To me, my goals seemed like these annoying things I was being forced to do, as opposed to opportunities with the potential to change my life.
I began to see a shift when I started the Passion Planner method. I stopped shaming myself for being unable to complete my goals and instead created a vision of an ideal life. If any of my goals didn’t bring me closer to that, I decided that they weren’t worth my time.
If you are curious about the passion planner method but need some inspiration, keep reading.
How I Answer the Monthly Reflection Questions
- What was the most memorable part of this past month? I pick something from my month that stands out: something new that I tried or a skill that I gained. This encourages me to begin a new skill in the following month so I can fill this section out again.
- In the past month what were the three biggest lessons you learned? I use this section to address my three biggest issues and whether I’m making progress towards fixing them. I have tendencies towards perfectionism/all-or-nothing thinking, analysis paralysis, and feeling like I don’t “deserve” to relax until I finish something.
- Review your planner for the past month and assess your priorities. Are you happy with how you spent your time? If not, why not? I actually answer this question before any of the other ones. I start by listing out everything that I’ve done in the month. Then I highlight really big milestones that I’m proud of in a different color so that they stand out.
- How are you different between this past month and the month before it? I use this as a compass for approaching my overall goals. Did I move closer to my ideal life this month, move farther away from it, or was there no movement?
- What or who are you most grateful for? I have a separate gratitude log in my bullet journal. Because of this, I use this section to acknowledge resources for changing my life that were previously unknown to me. For example, it’s amazing to me that there is a wealth of free knowledge online.
- Name three things you can improve on in the next month. What concrete actions can you take to work towards these improvements? Creating a spreadsheet or a document tackling a goal of mine often motivates me towards that goal. I use this space to list out the spreadsheets or documents that I’m going to create in the next month. For example, if a goal is to save money, I’ll create an income and expense spreadsheet.
