The Business of You - A Year in Review
December 30, 2025
With the proper reflection and the right planning, you can be well on your way to building the life of your dreams!
It's your weekly dose of clarity and insight on all things tech & business from Dream in Digital! Each week, I'm here to share my thoughts to help you make the most of today's technology and build a business that genuinely supports the life you want to live.
This Week’s Core Focus:
The Business of You
The end of the year is a great time to reflect and take stock of all the things that happened this year. All that you’ve accomplished, how far you’ve come, your progress toward your goals, etc. It’s also the perfect time to game plan for the upcoming year. Just like your business should have its Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Values, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and a Game Plan for the year, I believe that you should also have these things for your life. Ideally, your business and life could work together in tandem! Here are some core pieces to establish now for your business & life (separately, but potentially feeding off one another), that can guide you throughout this upcoming year.
Integrity Report: This portion of my Year End Review was initially taken directly from James Clear’s Integrity Reports. After a couple years of doing them myself, I went ahead and made some tweaks to the format, but overall, your Integrity Report is basically a detailed account of your life’s WHY (a Simon Sinek term), Values, Mission, & Vision.
Annual Review: Just like you would review your business goals and objectives at the end of the year, analyze your business metrics/KPIs, and strategically discuss improvements for next year, I believe it’s important for us to do the same with our lives.
Goal Setting: After understanding what you want to achieve/who you want to be (Integrity Report) and then taking stock of how this past year played out (Annual Review), it’s now time to set your goals for the future. When setting a goal, I find it helpful to ask myself the following questions for each goal: A) What is it that you want to accomplish? (Intention); B) Why do you want to accomplish this? (Purpose); C) How can you show up consistently to accomplish this? (Habit)
Most people never achieve their goals because they only list the “Intention.” Without the WHY or the “Purpose,” and the Consistency or the “Habit,” our human nature isn’t wired to pursue something on motivation alone. Adding meaning to your goals and developing a system for yourself to follow will help you accomplish your goals at a much higher success rate!
Tech Tip of the Week:
A Year in Review
The Problem: I get it, you’re excited to start planning for the new year, setting your goals, and dreaming big! That’s awesome! How can you make sure that you account for all of the things that happened this past year, and set goals for the coming year that make sense — and that you can actually stick to?
The Solution: Here is the template I use to Review My Year & Set My Goals:
Integrity Report:
1. Statements & Values:
A) WHY Statement - Your core purpose and the "fuel" behind everything you do; it defines your contribution and the impact you want to make.
B) Core Values - The non-negotiable principles and beliefs that guide your behavior and define your character.
C) Mission Statement - A description of what you do to live out your WHY & Values; it is your current strategy for action.
D) Vision Statement - A vivid snapshot of what your life and the world will look like if/when you are successful.
Once you state these, I find that they normally don't change much from year to year. You may tweak or update them a little bit each year, but overall, these should be the foundation of your life for at least a good few years.
2. How Did I Live These Statements & Values?
A space to celebrate specific moments where your actions were in perfect alignment with your core principles.
3. Where Did I Fall Short?
An honest look at the times you drifted from your values or allowed external pressures to dictate your choices.
4. Where Can I Improve?
Similar to “Where Did I Fall Short,” but with more of a focus on action, and the things you can do in the future to be better.
Annual Review:
1. What Went Well This Year?
A list of your wins, achievements, and the positive habits that yielded the best results.
2. What Didn't Go Well This Year?
A review of the projects, habits, or situations that failed, stalled, or caused unnecessary stress.
3. What Did I Learn?
The "gold" extracted from your experiences; the new wisdom and insights you will carry into the future.
4. Where Can I Improve?
Similar to “What Did I Learn,” but with more of a focus on action, and the things you can do in the future to be better.
Goal Setting:
1. What Are Your Goals for The New Year?
What things do you want to accomplish by the end of this coming year?
2. What Is Your “One Thing”?
Out of the goals you have, which one is your most important priority?
3. Why Are These Goals Important to You?
Use this space to tie each of your goals back to your Statements & Values.
4. What Habits Will Help You Achieve These Goals?
What are the small, recurring, daily or weekly actions that will help you achieve your end goals?
Build the system(s) that allow you to get just 1% better every day. At that rate, you could be 365% better by the end of the year! How about that for progress? 😉
Bonus Tip: I tend to only set 1-4 goals at a time. Having too many goals will make it too hard to do the work you need to do to accomplish them. You want your goal setting to have a good balance between challenging and achievable. Don’t go crazy! (Note to self! Haha)
Bonus Prompt: What's Your Personal Motto for The Year?
A short, punchy, and repeatable phrase that acts as inspiration, a reminder for what you’re working towards, and why!
How This Helps: By having a pre-planned Yearly Review outline that encompasses multiple aspects of reflection & goal setting, while helping you focus on what’s essential, you’ll be able to gradually build your dreams and watch yourself become the person you always wanted to be!