The power of weekly reviews,
Plus 40 simple questions.
We have good intentions,
But we often forget them in key moments of our life.
We have goals,
Values,
Aspirations,
But they are not as present in our awareness as they should be.
We often gain insights and have moments of epiphany,
But then we get busy with other things and don't fully integrate them.
This is what I call the lower mind.
It is busy,
Distractible,
Forgetful.
The Buddhists call it the monkey mind.
Its nature is to jump from one object to the next,
Reacting to the inputs of the environment and to our own internal triggers.
Its movements are haphazard and conditioned.
Yet this is not the only way to be.
It is possible that we cultivate what I call the higher mind,
Which is the more evolved,
Conscious and intentional aspect of our being.
Using the Buddhist analogy,
We could also call it the monk mind.
The higher mind has the capacity to tame the lower mind.
Or to use a gentler tone.
To coach it or harness it.
The higher mind can give a focal point to the lower mind.
And guided to come back to it again and again.
With its self-awareness,
The higher mind can contemplate the values,
Goals and principles that it cares about.
Then,
With its willpower,
It can guide the lower mind back on track.
This can take the form of learning from one's mistakes,
Setting intentions for behavior change,
Or simply reconnecting to one's goals,
Values,
And insights.
Creating time to do this regularly is the discipline of reflecting in the higher mind system.
The two main ways to implement this in practical terms are daily,
Using the three-question journal available in the app.
Weekly,
Implementing deeper self-reflection through a weekly review.
This article gives you some ideas of what to do during the weekly review.
Weekly reviews,
The why and the how.
Weekly reviews give us an opportunity to do one or more of the following.
Review our core values,
Power words,
Aspirations,
And goals,
So we strengthen our commitment to them.
Feel grateful for the things that went well,
For yourself and for your life in general.
Consolidate your learnings by looking at the week that passed and seeing what are the key lessons in the different areas of your life.
Decide what you want to do different the following week.
Bring closure to the previous week and build momentum for the next.
Renew your intentions around the good habits that you're building and the bad habits that you're breaking,
Or any other behavior change you're working on.
Review powerful ideas.
Insights from books you have read.
And inspirational quotes that you live by.
We could review our checkpoints of awareness.
If you don't have them,
Then you are living without awareness.
You are living on autopilot and your life feels less purposeful and less centered.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates.
Self-reflection is the main way to get wisdom and awareness.
It is also indispensable for you to achieve your goals in any area of life.
It keeps you focused and accountable.
You can develop your own template.
With the reflections and checklists that are important for you.
Here are some powerful questions you can include in your template.
Weekly Review.
The Core Questions.
Here are four core questions I recommend you include in your weekly review.
They are the minimum action of the practice and are basically the same questions as the daily journal.
1.
What were the biggest wins in each area of my life this week?
Gratitude.
Two,
How did I take a step away from my values,
Goals,
And aspirations this week?
Awareness.
3.
What will I do different next week?
Intention.
4.
From 1 to 10,
How do I rate myself in living aligned with my values this week?
Alignment.
Gratitude,
Awareness,
Intention,
And alignment form the acronym GAIA.
For the awareness question,
Remember the core tenet of mindful self-discipline,
That it's never about beating yourself up.
It's not about feeling guilty nor shaming yourself.
It's only looking at what you need to pay more attention to,
Seeing where there is room for growth.
For the intention question.
Don't just quickly decide it in your mind and move on to the next thing.
Let the intention sink in.
Close your eyes and spend a few moments holding on to that intention powerfully.
Make it a resolution rather than just a wish.
For the alignment question,
If you have done the power words exercise in the Wise Confidence book,
You can choose one or all of your power words to rate yourself.
Otherwise,
You can choose one of your core values or aspirations.
Weekly Reviews.
Additional questions?
Here are other powerful questions you can add to the four core ones above.
Don't feel overwhelmed by their number,
You don't need to use them all.
Instead,
Choose 4 or 5 that are most relevant to you,
Or create your own.
Focus questions.
What was the most important thing accomplished this week?
Which tasks or activities done this week will still matter a year from now.
Which tasks were trivial.
To what should I have said no to?
How well did I stick to my plans?
What is the number one mindset,
Virtue,
Or personal quality I need to focus on now?
Close your eyes and connect to the wisdom of your higher mind for a minute.
Then ask,
What is the most important thing for me to focus on next week?
Self-discipline questions.
What habit or routine did I forget to do?
How can I create a stronger reminder for it?
What tasks did I procrastinate on or avoided?
How can I make it easier next time?
What excuse did I tell myself?
How will I challenge it next time?
What distractions did I indulge in?
How can I remove them from my environment?
What goal did I lose motivation for?
Lists several reasons why that goal is still important.
What day was most hectic.
How can I make sure that doesn't happen again?
What could I have done better in terms of time management and energy management?
Quality of life questions.
How can I slow down?
What do I most need right now?
What areas of life did I neglect this week?
What activity gave me the greatest sense of meaning this week?
How can I create more time to rest,
Renew and replenish next week?
If one burden could be removed from my life now,
What would that be?
What recurring negative emotion did I experience?
Deeper learning questions.
Which strategy or approach do I need to rethink?
What assumptions am I holding on to that might be wrong?
What are the most important lessons I've learned this week?
What do I need more clarity on?
Do a brain dump of all your thoughts on that topic.
What is going on in my life now that I need to take time to process and digest?
What is one thing I need to change so I can be more true to myself?
What repeated lesson in life am I overlooking?
Growth questions.
What is one thing I know I need to do,
But I'm hesitating?
What can I do to move forward?
What unrealistic expectation am I holding on to?
What can I remove in order to simplify my work?
What is one thing I can do to accelerate my growth?
Where am I currently stuck?
And what is one step I can take to get unstuck?
How can I better embrace the pain in the journey?
How can I use my current challenges to fuel my commitment and determination?
And finally,
The ultimate question.
Am I happy with how I'm spending my time?
Your next steps.
Weekly reviews are a tool of self-reflection,
Awareness,
And realignment.
To experience its power,
Schedule a recurring event on your calendar.
Most people like to do them on Sundays or Mondays.
And many take the opportunity to also do the planning of the week ahead in the same sitting.
You can allocate 30 minutes to an hour for it.
If that's too much for you at this phase of your life,
Then start with 10 minutes and cover fewer questions.
And soon you will realize that weekly reviews give back more time than they take.
