Why is a post-mortem of your year a good idea? You are able to focus on actionable areas for growth and development. Let’s focus on how to implement this yearly review and steps to take to make it effective. We recommend recording your thoughts in some form or fashion to review throughout next year.

Mindset

When reviewing the year, remember this is a time to seek opportunities for growth, not become stuck on failure points. Be honest with yourself and give yourself adequate time to dump all of your thoughts, which might mean it takes longer than one day. The yearly post-mortem exercise is not about whether you hit your aspirational dreams, but much more about developing your own performance and growth. This is not the time to dwell or harbor negative thoughts about performance. Rather, this is the time to remain pragmatic and see the bigger picture. 

Approach

Review the year with an objective and subjective lens across the Pillars that make up performance. Be specific and honest. 

• Training: What was your consistency? What worked and what did not? What injuries did you have and, moreover, why? Identify periods where you felt confident and strong and when training felt flat and you were tired. 
• Strength: Review how consistent and effective you were with strength. Did you prioritize strength? 
• Habits around Nutrition: Did you fuel after sessions? How was your race-day fueling and hydration strategy? What was your daily eating like? What is your relationship with nutrition?
• Recovery: Was there a commitment to going easy in lighter sessions? What was your sleep quality? 
• Performance: Review your racing this year pragmatically and in the lens of your own performance and less about aspirational dreams. 
• Positives: Where did you develop from prior races? Where are areas for growth? 
• Life and Sport Integration: In the simplest terms, was the year fun? Did other parts of life thrive and/or suffer?

Outcomes

Once you have honestly and thoroughly reviewed your year, identify actionable steps to move into the New Year with a plan. 

• What are the 2-3 aspects of improvement
• Do you need support or coaching with these areas of improvement? If so, book a consult. We are here for you and wish to see you succeed. 
• At the end of the day, don’t try to change TOO much. Identify 2-3 action items that you can nail rather than a laundry list of ways to improve.