Another Year Gone?! Reflecting on How We Used Our Time in 2022

At Safewill, we think about death a lot. But instead of it getting us down, it's the reminder we use to make our time choices wisely. To motivate ourselves in the morning, get the most out of the day and live more with the knowledge this really isn’t forever. For some, it takes an accident or the death of a loved one to gain this same appreciation for life's brevity. But for those of us reminded about death each day, we’ve become grounded in the importance of not taking it all for granted.

Our mission is to help you prepare for death to get you back to living fully- with the peace of mind that your life’s work is all taken care of. But more than that, we believe this form of planning offers a spotlight on who and what you value most; highlighting your priorities for death in a way which can guide life.

We offer some powerful questions to ask yourself to help align your time with these important goals. Ensuring that whether it's your family or health, spending more time with your kids or achieving that superhero physique potential, your time in 2023 best reflects your values.

1. Identifying Your Goals

Where do you want to be this time next year?

What does success look like to you?

You're on your deathbed; what are your regrets & what are you grateful you did?

Getting specific with what you want your life to look like provides a useful lens to reflect back on your past year with, as well as an opportunity to update what success really looks like to you. Whether that's the house, the car and the promotion, getting your affairs in order with a Safewill estate plan, or prioritising more family time, it's important to take yourself off auto-pilot and redefine what's important to you.

Avoid your 2023 hustle getting you to a destination you realise upon arrival is actually someone else's dream. And with many deathbed regrets about the things we didn’t do- it's worth making sure you're not being sidetracked on working towards things which aren’t really important to you. In your life you write the rules, so just make sure you don’t forget to pick up the pen.


2. Reflecting Back on Your Actions

What can you do now that you couldn't do a year ago?

What's your nagging regrets or unresolved issues from this year?

What life pillars (E.g. Health, Family, Career) took priority or dipped this year?

Be honest and be specific when reflecting on the past year. It’s important to acknowledge the good stuff, but also turn any missed opportunities into learnings for the new year and get our heads out of the sand when it comes to passively allowing time to pass us by.

Even looking at things like screen time can be a really good way to confront how you're spending your time. With latest figures revealing a shocking 70% of people spend 7 hours a day on screens, this reflection can offer an important avenue of rethink on how you divide up your time.

3. Looking Forward to the New Year

What’s one thing you can do daily to get closer towards your goals?

What’s on your bucket list for this year?

How are you going to measure progress?

Don’t sleepwalk into the same problems in 2023, only to look back and kick yourself come next end-of-year. Equally, start small and manageable in setting realistic mini goals towards the big picture. Think bold and think big about a couple things you want to achieve, then actionable and measurable for the day to day.

Remember that a new year doesn’t have to mean a new you, especially if such extreme thinking leads to crash and burn by the end of week 1. You might be halfway there or about to hit a milestone, so whilst it might not fill space for every box in the new self growth diary the small tweaks to a current grind might instead be where your efforts are at.

Do Something Today for Future You

Kickstart your 2023 organisation hype, and get started on your Safewill estate plan today. To find out more and have a one-to-one with one of our experts, give us a call on 1800 10 33 10, or start a live chat today.