It’s the final day of 2019 as I write this, and as I know many of us do at this time, I’ve been in a period of reflection. Regardless of if you celebrate or acknowledge any particular holiday, we cannot deny the subtle energy shift that occurs when the calendar year turns over. I’m always so eager to read and discuss what others do for themselves and for their businesses at this time of year, so think year, I thought I would share my own process, too.

This is my third year to proactively orchestrate an intentional reflection period at the end of the year. It always seems to change slightly so that it fits into what I need most at that time, and this year was no different. Here are the five End-of-Year Business Rituals I established for myself as I gently released 2019 and welcomed 2020.

1. Reflect + Envision.

It’s so common it almost feels trite, but I believe the popularity of this initial combination speaks to the power it holds. Before we know where we want to go, we must first look back on where we’ve been. In order for us to invite in more of what we do want, we must clear space by letting go of what we no longer desire.

My favorite way to do this is to start by taking a look back at my calendar. I am a combo paper planner + digital calendar kind of gal, so I flip back to the first week of the year in my planner and scroll to January 2019 on my Google Calendar. From there, I start to make a list of clients and projects. I go through the year like this and simply write down all that I can remember that I did in my business that year, using any resources as tools to jog my memory.

Once the list is complete, I then go back down the list item-by-item and place a (+) or a (-) next to each one. What I’m doing here is marking those clients or projects that felt energy positive versus energy negative. My goal here is to move fairly quickly, not overthink it, but listen to my intuition and pick up on the subtle cues from my body when I read back the name. Whatever my initial inclination is, that’s the designation that client/project receives. I work my way down the list until complete. From here I can look for any patterns in project work or clients that either I want to invite in more of, or work my way towards releasing.

Some additional journal prompts to help you in your reflection & envisioning:

What am I most proud of from last year?
What did I learn about myself and the way I want to be working?
What skills, mindsets, modalities did I master this year that I feel equipped to share with others?
What part of my work feels uninteresting, boring, stagnant?
In what area of my work have I been craving support?
If I could have a business full of the most ideal type of client/project/work, what does that look like?
What steps do I need to take on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to help me get there?

2. Intention + Action.

Once I have a clear idea of what I do and don’t want for the upcoming cycle, I then begin to develop intentions and actions in the form of supporting practices. That last journal prompt above is often a gentle segue into this step. The envisioning process allows me to begin to put shape to intentions, and then I must take aligned action in order to bring those intentions to fruition.

Even though this is all in the context of business, we as the human vessels performing the tasks are the instruments that need care, attention, and fine tuning. So with that in mind, I consider the intentional actions that will comprise my Soul-Centered Rituals by looking at the four realms of self-care: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When all four of these practices are well supported, then we, as complex, unique, beautiful human beings, can bring our best work into the world.

If it’s helpful, feel free to use this Soul-Centered Rituals Matrix that I use and refer to often. I like to think of these repeating actions as rituals instead of habits. For me, habits and routine feel sterile and rigid. Whereas rituals feel alive and fluid.

For example, one of my intentions for this year is to further develop my voice, not only my message and what I want to become known for, but also the way in which I share it. I feel quite comfortable (now!) behind a keyboard and sharing my writing, but using my speaking voice still remains quite terrifying. So if the intention is to develop my voice, then my actions are to use it. Write more. Speak more.

If I follow that intention through, then what do I want and need to be doing on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually basis in each of the four realms (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) in order to support that? A few of these key pieces for me as I look ahead to 2020 are returning to a daily screens off time around 9:30pm. This allows for a buffer period before I go to sleep, which then allows for a good night’s rest, which then supports me waking up at 5:30am, which is truly my favorite thing to do in order to spend time writing in the morning. So the screens off ritual impacts me physically, mentally, and sometimes emotionally. So there can be some overlap across the cells of the matrix.

3. Share gratitude.

When that’s complete, and I feel good about where I’m headed, I then want to make sure I’m sharing the abundance from the previous year to those who have supported me along the journey. I haven’t always had the financial abundance to send end-of-year gifts to clients and friends, but when I do, gift-giving fills me with a lot of joy. Thank You cards and sharing heartfelt words can work magic, too!

In my experience, the act of simply offering something to others is a beautiful catalyst to begin the cycle of abundance flowing again. Gratitude can be a most powerful elixir when used with sincerity.

4. Make a clean break.

And then once we’ve honored and acknowledged all that is good, all who have supported us, and all the newness that we want to invite in, we must then let some things go. It’s at this point that it’s critical to face the hard truths present in our business and address those directly so that we don’t bring that energy and weight with us into the new year.

To help me get clear on this step that often feels exceptionally difficult, I’ll go back over all of my notes, review those energy negative projects or clients and start to make a realistic plan for how to get those off of my plate. Perhaps it means asking for help and delegating and not eliminating entirely. Perhaps it means completely cutting the chord. Only you will know the right thing to do based on your current circumstances.

If you’re like me and you find it hard to turn down work or to say no to projects, a truthful way to approach this hard conversation that I’ve found helpful is to come clean by saying something along the lines of, “After much reflection about where I’m taking my business in 2020, I’ve decided that I will no longer be doing XYZ. Because of that, I want to start conversations about how we can transition our work…” If you have a specific scenario that you would like some help crafting language around, feel free to sign up for a Virtual Office Hours session, and we can do just that!

This is the hardest step for me because it’s when good ol’ scarcity mindset comes rearing it’s nasty head. So I share all of this knowing that fear will be present, and I encourage you to take as much time as you need. Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself all the support you need. But do follow through.

5. Rest!

This may be the most important step. I do struggle with calling it the final step because really this isn’t a linear process, and the entire End-of-Year Ritual can really be bolstered when rest is incorporated at every step, but… once you’ve completed all of this incredible work, it really is time to rest. This step of non-action and integration is massively powerful. For any unanswered questions that you may have from a previous step, don’t belabor it. Give it space, and you’ll be surprised when you release the expectation of an answer, it’ll often come back to you when you least expect it.

While this can be done on a larger scale at the end of the year, I’m planning to do smaller versions of this at every quarter. I’m looking forward to implementing more intentional reflection periods throughout my year. May you take whatever seems helpful, and make it your own.

Wishing you a gloriously abundant 2020!