A personal review is a foundational step to growth.
If you are going to embrace, enter, and engage the life you were created for– if you are to discover a life of wholeness–it is going to involve looking at reality. To do that you will need to hit the pause button and take a look at your life in review. 
Jesus shares, “how can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Luke 6:42 NLT).
In that passage, Jesus is speaking about how we interact with others and judge them without seeing our own sin first. There is a reminder in this statement that we are both in need of God’s grace, but to find it we must admit our own sin first. It is in this passage that we also learn the value of admitting our own reality.
I was watching a season of reruns of ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ and noticed that the same thing happens in every episode: the food is bad and there are organizational issues everywhere. However, the biggest issues are the people refusing to look at the plank in their eye. Often they refuse to admit reality.
In any development of a life plan, part of that plan will involve understanding your current reality. Not only the circumstances but understanding who you are. How are you thinking and feeling? How are your thinking and habits are leading and contributing to where you are right now?
For many to admit their reality they are going to have to admit and identify the plank that is in their eye.
At the end of the year, it is common for people to set goals and New Year’s resolutions. Many of them fail because they are done on a whim and people do not really want to change.
If you are serious about wanting to change, you need to develop a plan and get help to work that plan. A good place to start is by reviewing your year.
Each December I sit down and do a review. I set aside some space with no distractions. I then take a mental walk through a reflection exercise of different areas of my life, asking where am I at.
Here are four questions to help you in such an exercise.
1. What can I celebrate in my life this past year?
2. What would I like to see changed? What is God asking me to change?
3. What were my obstacles this year?
4. What would I like to see changed next year.
Next Step: Get out your calendar and block off some time to take a review and create a game plan for the New Year.
