This year’s end I went through a pile of different methods for reviewing the year in an effort to squeeze a few drops of condensed wisdom from the last 365 days. 
Just incase anyone out there finds him or herself in the same dilemma, here’s what I found helped me.
 
Resolutions tend to be rootless and so wither and die. I’m probably not the first person to say this. I think part of the reason for this is that we get tricked into thinking that entering a new group of days (a year) means that somehow the things within that group of days (us) are somehow also new – as in, recently introduced, not previously used. But in reality, we are bringing EVERYTHING with us, even troublesome things, unless we take the effort to do otherwise. Even then, some weaknesses are threaded too deeply for total extraction and need wise management and counterbalance. 
 
So instead of looking at the new year as a new start, look at it as a fruit tree. You’re the fruit tree, actually. And you’ve already been growing for several years. So how can you produce better fruit this next 365 days and beyond?
 
I’ll tell you what not to do…which happens to be what I usually do. I declare what fruit I want on the tree without considering how to cultivate a type of tree that could produce that quality of fruit. It’s a subtle difference since in both cases the desired fruit is the same. I’d add things to the resolution list because they seemed cool. “This year I should practice the guitar more,” “Publish my book,” “Do x amount of pull-ups,” etc. I was acting like I had a gift certificate.
 
But that’s not how you grow a proper tree. So instead of adding more shiny things to my list (likely the same things I tried to add last year) I decided to tend the tree. Prune the tree.
 
To blatantly switch the analogy to thrift and shopping, I looked at what I already had, kept the things that worked, shed the things that weren’t working, pulled the old things out of the closet that used to work (but that for some reason I’d stopped using), and finally after all that thrifty thinking, added a very few, very thought-out things to my cart for 2017. 
 
In the end, there was a lot more subtracting and using things I already had than adding new things. 
 
So here’s what the process looked like, beginning broadly and then narrowing. 
 
Question set #1:
a. What have been the best (most effective, happy, or growing) times of my life?
b. What were the reasons?
c. What are the patterns?
 
I went all the way back. Here are a few highlights:

• Jr. Hi. was fun because I starting playing team sports (i.e. a friend group with a purpose and a good coach/mentor). 
• Jr – Sr years in high school were growing because God had just pulled me out of a very dark time. I was in Scripture about 2 hours a day and otherwise inundating myself with solid material and influences with the desperation of a drowning man grasping a rope. I was rooted, growing, and finding joy.
• Sophomore – Senior years in college were a bright spot because of forced discipline, being surrounded by close friends, and leadership opportunities. 
• Grad school was another growing time, this time from external sources. I was focused on giving and being useful to other people. Counseling became an instant transfer from textbook to real life, causing a desperate reliance on God. 
• Living in China was another great time – particularly the 2nd year. There are plenty of reasons for this but the biggest movers were good friends extremely close by (some of their doors were literally a few steps away), being part of a team, extended travel (due to semester breaks), and free time (due to part time teaching). I used the free time to figure out what I was good for. Among other things, I started writing. 

 
As you probably noticed, close friends, Scripture, purpose (service & team), and time were all common threads.
 
To begin the second set of questions (and this is taken from Tim Ferriss who might’ve taken it from someone else) I went through my calendar and journal for 2016 just to refresh my memory and get an accurate look at what I actually did during those 12 months. This is important because memory is a liar. As I noted in one of my journal entries after having spent a few pages reveling in feelings of uselessness (if one can “revel” in despair) “…even when I bemoan my writing doldrums, I have still in the past 5 weeks written about 280 pages of book III.” And yet I felt like a complete failure at the time.
 
Pay attention to this review since we’ll need to glean the answers to the second set of questions from it. 
 
Question #2 (also Mr. Ferriss):
What 20% of experiences, activities, and people produced the most positive and most negative emotions this year? (I think this is a useful question. Useful, not final. Positive emotions aren’t the end-all. Still, it asks what “produced” positive emotions not necessarily what was fun the whole way through. Eating vegetables isn’t necessarily fun at first (at least before you discover the spice box) but it does usually produce positive emotions in the end. 
 
Again, the similar patterns emerged for me. Time with close friends and reading to name a few. To give a few razor sharp specifics: going on walks with my husband, road trips, quiet time while hiking, and good meals like smoked salmon and wasabi all produced plenty of positives while working 12 hour night shifts, large breakfasts, and nagging my husband were very unhelpful. 
 
Next step: get out the calendar and start scheduling those things in for this year. 
 
 
Set #3: 
a. Things I need to REVISIT (things I once did but for some reason stopped doing)
b. Things I need to SHED
c. Things I need to ADD
d. Things I need to CONTINUE (this one need a little more unpacking which we’ll do later) 
 
Back to horticulture. Time to check the tree rings and get out the pruners (I realize that one can’t check tree rings without chopping down the tree but just go with me here).
 
For example, 
a. I need to start spending extended time in the Scriptures again like I used to. I need to review what I’ve learned in counseling classes and more consistently keep in touch with my closest friends. 
b. Sleeping in.  
c. Practice being grateful and get into a sport. 
d. Writing, my eating plan. 
 
Now that you have an idea of what has and has not been helpful in the past, it’s time to unpack that last question, #3d. What do I need to keep doing? In other words, what works?
 
Set #4: What do I already know works for me? 
In #3d I said that I needed to continue my eating plan. Now it’s time to be more specific about it. It’s also a chance to make sure I didn’t leave anything out when I first answered the question. If I’m honest, a lot of the things that “work” for me work because they’re easy – that is, they are the easiest hard thing. They follow the path of least resistance so that I don’t have to rely quite so much on raw will power. For example, it’s just psychologically easier for me to eat one big meal at night, 1-2 small snacks throughout the day, and coffee or tea in the morning. It might not always work but right now it does.
Having a pull-up bar in my room also makes it easier for me to do pull-ups throughout the day. What a shock.
Another thing that works because it’s easier is listening to audiobooks instead of sitting down to read. For some reason, I just find sitting harder. Maybe it’s because I read slowly or maybe it’s because I like to get other things done while listening to fiction.
Living close to friends is another short cut to keeping in contact with friends. This one takes quite a bit more planning but let’s face it, the more steps it takes to get to someone, the less chance there is of having deep conversations with that person. Physical proximity just helps. 
 
 
 
Wrap up. 
Once I’ve finished reviewing what has helped me in the past, I can use those lessons to prune and fertilize my tree. Remember, I don’t get a new tree. Every year I have to keep working with what I already have even if it has a few fire scars or snapped limbs from the inevitable storms.
 
But if you’re like me, even after all these questions you’re still wondering just how to implement the things in #3c – those few things to add. 
For that, I’ll need to borrow another’s wisdom again – this time Stephen Covey’s. He outlines a great way to take goals and fit them into a weekly schedule. So I’ll do some reviewing (#3a) and be back later with a post about what I’ve found…or you could just read his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, while you wait. 
 
So now after all that introspection we know ourselves just a little bit better. Socrates would be proud.

Happy New Year!