A powerful exercise to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the year that will be. Here’s why (and how) you should conduct a personal annual review.

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Every year, I sit down in December and write my personal annual review.

It’s my opportunity to hit the pause button and reflect on the year that was and start charting a course for the year that will be.

It’s a powerful practice that helps me:

• appreciate the many accomplishments over the previous 365 days,
• hold myself accountable to goals I’ve set,
• and provide both clarity and direction on my priorities for the new year.

If you are serious about taking back control of your time and energy, reinventing yourself or just actualizing a more fulfilling lifestyle, then a personal annual review should be part of your process to get there.

I’ve been using this yearly practice as a means for goal setting, reflection, gratitude and accountability for almost a decade.

Along with my approach to journaling for personal growth, there’s power in doing consistent check-ins with yourself by charting and documenting your journey.

From getting into the best shape of my life to building my own business and writing thousands of words per day, most of my ideas started in one way or another from the personal annual review.

I’m going to share with you my easy process to conduct your own personal annual review in a way that doesn’t suck up all of your time.

I’ll also share notes from my own review as a means of transparency and accountability (and perhaps just inspiration if you’re feeling stuck).

Minimal yet effective, just how I like to roll.

Let’s get into it.

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What is a personal annual review?

In school, they give you a report card to check in on your progress.

You’ll know your strongest subjects and then have some feedback on the subjects that need work.

This continues through our careers, too.

When you get to corporate work life, you sit down with your manager and revisit your key performance indicators (or KPIs) to check on your progress and set goals for the upcoming quarter (or year).

But in our personal lives … there’s no such thing.

We’re all just winging it. Flying blind without any regular progress reporting to keep us on track.

I think often to this quote:

“You can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been”
— Maya Angelou

You’ve got a big idea or a dream about living a more meaningful life. You have a vision for what that life would look like.

But you have no plan to make it a reality.

A personal annual review is a chance to get clear on the life you want to live and find the direction you need to take in order to actualize it.

A personal annual review should answer three crucial questions

Don’t make this any more complicated than it needs to be.

Google enough of this stuff and you’ll find folks creating spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

We’re just looking for a practice that allows you to check in on your progress, to see where you are in life and if you’d like to make some changes.

At minimum, whip out a notepad and a pen and jot down these three questions:

1. What went well for you this year?
2. What did not go so well for you this year?
3. What are you working towards in the New Year?

If you sat down once per year and got really clear and specific on those three questions and acted on them, you’d be ahead of like 95-percent of people.

So if you’re feeling stuck, make it simple. Start with those three questions and keep it moving.

But if and when you’re ready, we can do a little better. There are a few additional questions I like to ask in my personal annual review:

In what ways did I grow this year?

This gets you thinking deeply about the many ways in which you’ve evolved from ideas to habits.

We should be changing as we gain more knowledge and experience more of life. If you are the same person you were 365 days ago, you’re doing something wrong.

Stagnation is slow death.

What do I want to Start – Stop – Continue next year?

There are going to be habits or systems that you’ve developed over the previous 12 months that you’d like to keep. And there will definitely be some things that you’d like to change, or maybe stop altogether.

Use the personal annual review to check in on your behaviors, systems, even your schedule. Maybe there’s a standing meeting you have with a colleague that no longer serves you. Can you drop it?

Are there any new behaviors you’d like to adopt in the new year? One of my favorite habits that I started in 2024 is my slow morning routine and walk; I plan to continue practicing this in 2025.

Make three columns:

• Things you want to start doing next year
• Any habits or things you want to stop doing
• And any existing things you definitely want to continue practicing

And then perhaps one of my favorite deep thinking prompts for your personal annual review:

If I was to repeat 2024 in 2025, would I be closer to my ideal lifestyle?

We need to move.

Move your body daily.

Move your mind by learning.

Move your relationships forward by putting the phone away and connecting.

Move forward on projects by finally blocking out time to focus and work on them.

If you don’t, you will stay the same. BUT staying the same (stagnation) is slow death.

Start moving now before it’s harder to dig out of this funk.

This final question will challenge you by making sure you are continually moving.

Will another year like 2024 get you closer to your dream life? If not, what do you need to change in order to make that a reality?

Using your personal annual review for personal growth

Let’s say you realized that a repeat of 2024 is not going to cut it and you want to make a change.

At the end of the day, there will be five major areas to consider during your yearly review that will help you figure out the proper direction for the next 12 months.

Health
Are you training consistently and walking regularly?

Did you need to commit some focus to mobility in the coming year?

How’s your eating?

What about your mental health?

Check in briefly on all of these.

Career
Are you where you need to be in your career? Satisfied?

Do you want to explore better options within your business?

Or is it maybe time to find another job, perhaps even start your own business?

Learning
What did you learn this year?

Have you changed your mind about anything over the last 365 days?

Is there anything that you could add to your skill set that would enhance your career or just make your personal life more interesting?

Relationships
Did you spend time being present with loved ones?

When was the last time you did something with your buddies?

Do you need to make family time more of a priority in the new year?

Play
When was the last time you did something fun? Something that lights you up inside?

Play is not just for kids (as I explained in this newsletter article here), it’s something that we should all embrace every single day.

If you’ve not made this a priority, it’s time to add this bucket to your journal and track it for next year’s personal annual review.

Think of these like subjects in school.

Did you get an “A” in health?

Maybe you want to focus a little more on learning new skills to start the new year.

Or perhaps adding more play into your day should be a bigger priority.

When you sit down to conduct your personal annual review, keep those five areas in mind as you analyze the year that was and look ahead to the year that will be.

The personal annual review provides several advantages for your development

Appreciation for yourself.

Do you celebrate your wins? Even the small ones? This is a chance to do just that.

I’m really bad at celebrating my wins. Big and small. I have to make a concerted effort to list out the things I’ve accomplished and my personal annual review forces me to appreciate those efforts.

Listing them out is a great way to see how far you’ve come and really start appreciating the work you put into yourself.

The first time you do this might be rough if you’ve never practiced a personal annual review before.

But as you continue this yearly exercise, it’ll get easier … especially as you look over the years and start seeing the wins stack.

Accountability.

I’m not against New Years Resolutions. I don’t understand why people go out of their way to bash these things. It’s fun to be hopeful and challenge yourself.

Where everyone fails with the Resolutions is never following through.

About three in 10 people will create their own New Year’s Resolutions. Only 9-percent will actually accomplish those goals while 23 percent quit by the first week of January.

A personal annual review is your accountability buddy that you are facing at the end of the term (12 months).

Your grade at the end of the year will reflect your efforts towards that Resolution or goal. Act accordingly.

Clarity and direction.

The personal annual review should be a roadmap.

What are the subjects you need to work on the most to get one step closer to that more meaningful, purposeful life you’re after?

But, then you take it further and develop the habits that will get you there.

It’s your game plan.

And by just simply writing this down makes you 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals.

My personal annual review for 2025

I’m going to share some of the things I’m thinking about, reflecting on and prioritizing for the new year.

You do not have to copy my process. I want you to make this your own.

As you start this practice and stay consistent with it, the personal annual review should evolve into just that: something personal to you.

If there are things you’d really like to track or reflect on annually that aren’t included in my process, by all means add them to your own review.

I like to use my journal for this exercise. Using pen and paper is simplistic. It feels more personal.

It means I can sketch things, circle and draw lines to connect points. My journal is the home for all of these reflections so I can easily go back and look at previous years to compare notes and thoughts.

Oftentimes, I’ll go sit at a coffee shop for an hour to conduct my personal annual review. And then I’ll start by answering the big three questions …

What worked well for me in 2024?

Last year, I was burned out and stressed out and lacking direction for how I’d like my health and business to go.

In 2024, I made some changes (some drastic and some subtle) to unlock better focus and consistency.

Health and fitness after 40

I continue to practice my minimalist bodyweight workouts in my tiny Brooklyn apartment.

I train for just 20-25 minutes per day (I actually train every day, but you do not have to do that … I show you how to develop your own minimalist bodyweight routine here).

In 2024 I continued my approach to nutrition that includes using portion control over calorie counting.

All of this led to 2024 being the year that I got into the best shape of my life. At 45 years old.

Mental health should not be overlooked.

My slow morning approach and journaling practice have been integral parts of my ongoing recovery from grief, anxiety and depression. I’m still meditating as well.

And I plan to keep this routine going through 2025, too. If it ain’t broke …

Back to writing

If you’ve been with me for sometime, you’ll notice that I started writing again.

It was almost three years between articles posted to my website.

I was terribly burned out from writing about calories, protein and deadlifts all day and couldn’t find the time or the inspiration to fill pages.

Until I started exploring other topics outside of fitness.

And it’s led to a clarity that I never thought possible in terms of my own journey to unlock a better life.

It’s through my daily writing practice that I’ve been able to finally step out of the hyper-niched down approach of fitness and into a broader array of topics that has inspired like never before.

I’ve fallen in love with writing and plan to use this practice to drive my business going forward.

More books, less phones

A few months ago, I decided to cut way back on my phone usage after realizing I was consuming far too much.

I cut the doomscrolling and eliminated the random peeks at social media out of boredom.

Instead, I adopted the phone foyer approach from Cal Newport and now leave my phone at my workdesk all day.

It’s cut my phone screentime usage by almost 70 percent. I went over the exact methods I used in this newsletter.

With a few hours back in my day, I’ve used the time wisely and developed quite the book reading habit.

I’ve read more books this year than ever before and I’m really developing into quite the book worm. I love it.

My return to Final Fantasy

I started playing more video games.

Every day, after my work is done, I’ll fire up my PlayStation and do some gaming for at least 30 minutes before I pick up my kids from school. It’s my way to connect with one of my childhood loves, to unwind after the day, to transition from work to dad mode.

It’s fun.

And the point of life is to explore, grow, learn and … have fun.

Proud of myself for committing to this hobby again.

You don’t have to play Final Fantasy (or any video game for that matter), but you should find more time to play next year, it’ll boost creativity and alleviate some of that stress and anxiety that is kicking your ass.

Family trip to Disney World

The highlight of my year was taking my two young kids to Disney World for a massive weeklong vacation.

We did all of the parks. We ate lots of food. The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire week. It really was a magical trip.

It’s all part of my refocus on relationships going forward. Spending time being present. Taking a few minutes every day to make sure I’ve had at least one meaningful conversation with someone.

What did not work so well for me in 2024?

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There was a period of great introspection to start this year as I really took the time to find my purpose.

The pivot of my career (again)

My business took a massive hit in 2023 and that carried through most of 2024.

In order to save myself from burnout, something had to change. So that change had to come from how I approached my business.

I had to step away for a bit. I had to be bored. To challenge my beliefs about myself.

In order to find myself again, I had to get a bit lost for a while.

I reemerged a few months ago with a newfound passion that I’m calling my Life’s Work.

This is not my first business pivot (many of you still follow me from my Dad Bloggin’ days), but I do see this as perhaps the last major change for quite some time. I finally feel like I know what I want to be when I grow up.

Writing has provided so much more clarity and direction and unlocked a passion that I haven’t experienced since my days as a sports journalist.

It’s up to me to take this excitement for writing and monetize it in 2025.

What am I working towards in 2025?

This is the year when I think it all comes together for me.

I spent a big chunk of 2024 prioritizing my health: simplifying my fitness and nutrition while also doing what I could to capitalize on rest and recovery from burnout.

It feels like I’m in a good place now to shift my priorities back to my career.

Level up my business

This is the year that all of my hard work at transitioning my business and my writing will pay off.

My plan is to build the LevelUP Letter into a robust newsletter.

Don’t worry. If you’ve followed me for a few years because I drop awesome fitness content, I will continue to do so.

But after burning out from being so niche-specific for so long, I’m going to expand my range of topics beyond just calories, deadlifts and protein from here on out.

I plan to share what I’m building and working on in upcoming newsletters to let you in on the process in case you are going through a similar phase and would like to eventually build your own personal brand.

Put health on cruise control

For the first time in a long time, I’m in a place with my training and eating where I can just kind of maintain and not feel like I’m constantly shooting for some big goal.

I’m happy with my physique. My energy levels and sleep quality are fantastic. The annual blood work consistently comes back looking really good … my testosterone levels actually went up this year despite being a 45 year old dude.

I’m in a good place.

My goal in 2025 is to keep it that way. I have no real plans to change much with my minimalist approach to training and simplified nutrition.

After years of sacrifice and putting in the work, it finally paid off for me.

Build my community

I want to put a bigger emphasis on connection in the new year.

At 45, I’m halfway through the journey of life (if I plan to live until 90 years old) and one of my big pillars of a meaningful life is to foster deeper relationships.

I developed a non-needy way to build a personal network and I’m going to continue that daily exercise.

But I also think it’s time that I started building a community of folks hitting midlife and looking to unlock more fulfillment in this second phase of life.

I’m not sure exactly what that looks like, but as I develop it, I’m going to share my process and be really transparent. I want this to be a great resource for people like me who are stuck and are finding that life can be more than just this nonstop grind.

More on this to come in the new year.

Conduct your personal annual review to thrive in 2025

Now it’s your turn.

Block out about 60 minutes during the next week or so.

Grab a pen and a paper and get to work.

The six questions to ask yourself in a personal annual review:

1. What went well for you this year?
2. What did not go so well for you this year?
3. What are you working towards in the New Year?
4. In what ways did I grow this year?
5. What do I want to Start – Stop – Continue next year?
6. If I was to repeat 2024 in 2025, would I be closer to my ideal lifestyle?

Be as detailed and as specific as possible.

Have grace for yourself on the setbacks you faced.

Celebrate the many wins from last year (big and small).

Chart your path forward to crush it in 2025.

And then … take action. I believe in you.

I hope you found this useful. If so, I’d appreciate it if you sent this newsletter to one person you think would benefit from my writing today.

And as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “personal annual review” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Until next year,
Pete