Year-End Reflection: How to Look Back Without Self-Blame

Abstract

This article is about year-end reflection at work, and how to look back on a year without turning the review into self-criticism. Three pieces of research bear on it. A quasi-field experiment with soldiers (Ellis and Davidi, 2005) found that reviewing both successes and failures improved later performance more than reviewing failures alone. Four experiments (Breines and Chen, 2012) found that a self-compassionate response to a failure raised the motivation to improve, compared with a self-esteem response. Three studies (Emmons and McCullough, 2003) found that people who listed things they were grateful for scored higher on several well-being measures. None of these studied finance staff. The three steps at the end are practical readings, not tested methods, and this article is not medical advice.

The list you write in your head in November

In early November you start to add up the year. The audit that went well comes to mind for a moment, and then the forecast that slipped in July, and the argument with the controller in March.

By the end of the walk home, the list has one entry. You want a year-end reflection that is honest without being a trial, and you are not sure those two things can go together.

Year-end reflection: what is the evidence?

The research cited here does not say how to review a year. It covers a field experiment on reviewing successes and failures, a set of experiments on responding to failure with self-compassion, and three studies of listing what you are grateful for. The samples were soldiers, students and adults, and none was limited to finance. The next three sections cover what each one found. None of them tested the three steps at the end.

What a field experiment on after-event reviews found

Ellis and Davidi (2005) studied soldiers doing successive navigation exercises, in a quasi-field experiment. After each training day, one group was debriefed on both its failures and its successes. The other group reviewed only the failed events. The abstract does not give the number of participants.

Performance improved significantly more for the group that reviewed both. Before the manipulation, in both groups, learners' mental models of failed events had more constructs and links than their models of successful events. That gap closed gradually in later measurements. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read your own mental list through this. People tend to think harder about what went wrong than about what went right, and reviewing both went with better later performance. This is an inference. The setting was military navigation training, not finance, and a debrief after each day is not an annual review.

What four experiments on self-compassion found

Breines and Chen (2012) ran four experiments, with 68, 91 and 86 undergraduates and 73 adults. They compared a self-compassion condition with a self-esteem condition and with a no-intervention or positive-distraction control.

Self-compassion led to greater belief that a personal weakness can change (Experiment 1) and greater motivation to make amends for a moral transgression and avoid repeating it (Experiment 2). It led to more time spent studying for a difficult test after a failure (Experiment 3). People preferred upward comparison and were more motivated to change a weakness (Experiment 4). This is summarised from the published abstract and the article text.

Read the forecast that slipped in July through this. Treating a failure with understanding, not with harshness, went with more motivation to improve. This is an inference. The study used mostly students and short tasks. In Experiment 3 the difference from the self-esteem condition was marginal, and performance on the second test did not differ.

What three studies of gratitude found

Emmons and McCullough (2003) ran three studies. In Studies 1 and 2, 192 and 157 undergraduates were randomly assigned to list hassles, to list things they were grateful for, or to list neutral events (Study 1) or make social comparisons (Study 2). They kept weekly or daily records.

In Study 3, 65 adults with a neuromuscular disease were randomly assigned to a gratitude condition or a control condition. The gratitude groups scored higher on several, though not all, of the well-being measures, and the effect on positive affect was the most robust finding. This is summarised from the published abstract and the article text.

Read the audit that went well through this. Writing down specific good things went with higher well-being on several measures. This is an inference. The samples were mostly students and people with a health condition, the measures were self-reports, and the studies were not about work.

Year-end reflection: three steps

None of these is a tested method, and none was studied in finance teams. They combine what the research points to with ordinary practice. Where a step goes beyond the research, it says so.

1. Review the wins and the misses together. The after-event study found that reviewing both went with better performance. Write three of each, and for each one what you did. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Won: the audit closed without findings, because I started the lease schedule early. Missed: the July forecast, because I took sales input late."

2. Write about one miss as you would to a colleague. The self-compassion experiments linked an understanding response to more motivation to improve. Add one change you would make. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Anyone would find that forecast hard. Next year I ask for sales input a week earlier."

3. Write down what went well in specific detail, including who helped. The gratitude studies used specific lists, not general statements. Name the person and what they did. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Ana rebuilt the lease schedule in two evenings, and the audit closed because of it."

If the year's close was the heavy part, Year-End Close Stress in Finance: What Wears You Down goes into that. For the habit of checking everything twice, there is Perfectionism at Work: When High Standards Start to Cost You. When criticism keeps replaying, see How to Stop Replaying Criticism From Your Boss. If a review meeting is next, How to Prepare for Your Annual Performance Review is about that. And How to Know If It Is Time to Leave Your Job is for when the reflection turns toward a bigger question.

Questions People Ask

What if looking back makes me dwell on mistakes?

The studies cited here did not measure dwelling. If the review turns into going over the same mistakes again and again, that is a sign to shorten it and stop. Setting a time limit is a judgement, not a research finding.

Does self-compassion mean lowering my standards?

In the experiments, self-compassion went with more motivation to improve, not less. That does not show that standards stay the same in the long run. The studies were short, and second-test performance did not differ in Experiment 3.

Do I have to write a gratitude list?

No. In the gratitude studies, listing helped on several, though not all, measures, and positive affect was the clearest result. You can use the idea in your own form, such as noting specifics in a work diary.

Can coaching help me with a year-end review?

Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It can help you look at the year in a structured way and notice how you talk to yourself about it. It is not treatment. No study cited here tested coaching.

When it is more than a year-end mood

A year-end mood is one thing. It is more when self-blame does not ease, when you feel numb, persistently low, hopeless or anxious, when you cannot sleep, or when you notice physical symptoms. In those cases talk to your doctor, your occupational health service or a qualified mental health professional. If you ever think about harming yourself, contact emergency services or a crisis line in your country at once. This article is not medical advice. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It is not treatment and not a substitute for it.

Sources

• Ellis, S., & Davidi, I. (2005). After-event reviews: Drawing lessons from successful and failed experience. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), 857–871. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.90.5.857 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• Breines, J. G., & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1133–1143. DOI: 10.1177/0146167212445599 (Summarised from the published abstract and the article text.)

• Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377 (Summarised from the published abstract and the article text.)