The Importance of Review
“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” — George Santayana
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” — Dr. Seuss
Right now at work, I am in the middle of review season; some of you just got a headache by me saying that. Annual reviews for some people bring back memories of previous employers who were unethical, mean or dishonest. You might have thought back to getting a bad grade in college, but today I want to talk about the importance of review in our personal lives. A lot of times we think about annual reviews being conducted by employers, but have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if you applied this principle to your personal life? For instance, what if your wife, children, pastor, or best friend had to give you an annual review each year? Would they give you a passing score or would you fail? What kind of criteria would they judge you on? Could you imagine if your pastor came up to you next Sunday and said, “You know last year your church attendance and giving were over the top, but this year I expected a lot more out of you!” Or what would happen if your kids said, “You know dad, the amount of time you spent playing with me last year was not enough for optimal development and growth in my life, but this year you have really turned it up a notch. Thanks, Dad!” What about your spouse? “Honey, last year you were super engaged in my needs and desires. We made love frequently and went on dates once a week, but lately you just seem distracted by other things, I expect more out of you.” Now some of you might be laughing, but the reality is although people might not articulate themselves in this way, they could often be thinking these thoughts.
At work, I have learned a couple of things about having to articulate somebody else’s success for an entire year. First, there should never be any surprises. If there are surprises in the review stage then I probably did not do a good job throughout the year keeping lines of communication open with the person. Secondly, specific and actionable steps are refreshing for the person I am reviewing because then they can truly grow as a result of my review.
A few years ago I was trying to take my productivity the next level and came across the GTD system by David Allen. There are five steps in his methodology: Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, and Engage.
The first time I went through this entire system it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders; it was amazing. But honestly after a few weeks, I started to get lazy and really only paid attention to the first three steps in this system and never took the time to reflect (review) or engage. There is so much value in reviewing the things that you have planned to do. I want to take you through a couple of thoughts on why this review step is so important.
If it is worth planning then it is worth reviewing — A lot of us take time to plan things out. Maybe you sit down on the first day of the week by yourself and get your calendar or task manager and start to plan what the next 168 hours will entail for you. My wife and I try to sit down once a week and plan our calendar and budget together so we are on the same page with our money and time. Now say you spend all that time planning what you are going to do, but do you take the time after all is said and done to review how those things went? Meaning, did you not only plan where your money will go at the beginning of that week but after the week is over do you review where it actually went? You took the time to get everything out of your head and into your inbox, you organized it into folders or categories. But after you took the time to check all the boxes, did you take the time to review how those things went? You see, if something is worth planning then it is worth reviewing.
Reviewing past successes provides motivation for future endeavors — I cannot tell you how many times on January 1st I have set out to make some goals for myself for that calendar year. Like a lot of society I have systems in place, apps to track things, and people to hold me accountable to these goals. But in July if I don’t take the time to check up on how my goals are going and how I’m progressing through them, then I can guarantee that by the time December roles around I’m going to be depressed at that lack of progress I have made over the previous 11 months. This also applies to finances. My wife and I have periodically sat down and discussed some things that we have a “need” for and have started budgeting out money to get us to a place where we can purchase that item. My pitfall is that I am such an achiever that once I have purchased that item I am already onto the next thing I’m trying to acquire and grab ahold of. I have started to make it a practice to review my finances and budget line items so that I see what I saved up for and if it was worth the investment. This provides so much motivation to continue on a path of success for the future.
Review provides focus on our priorities — We tell ourselves that we have our priorities in line so we could even make a five point bulleted outline of what those priorities are. But if somebody were to look at your calendar and your bank account, would they still think your priorities line up with what you say they are? I say my family is a priority above my work, but does my calendar reflect this? I say that I want to be a generous person, but do the 1’s and 0’s in my bank account tell a story of my generosity? In the review stage it gives us a chance to shake off the excess weight of things that truly don’t matter in life.
One day reviewing is all we will have left — There will come a day, sooner than we are willing to admit, that all we will be able to do is review what has happened in our life. I follow Richard Branson on Instagram, and he posted a picture recently that made me think about this. It was a beautiful picture of him on Necker Island, an island he owns, in a bright yellow Adirondack chair with a quote on top of the picture. The quote is his and says,
“Picture yourself at 90 years old, sitting in a comfortable chair asking yourself: what have I done in my life?” — Richard Branson
You might make it to 90, or you might not make it to 35. Regardless, there will come a day when we will sit down and ask ourselves, “What have I done with my life?” Despite your belief system or world outlook, we all have one thing in common: the same 24 hours in a day and the same 168 hours in a week. Upon reviewing the gift of time you have been given, is there anything you would change?
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” ― Bil Keane
