Teams and organisations do retrospectives as part of their normal processes. There are many different templates but most are some form of looking at what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what to change for the next cycle. This allows for continuous improvement, trying new systems and seeing how well they work, and sharing what has been learned.

Do you do personal retrospectives? Sit down and look back at what you’ve done in all areas of your life? Ask yourself the same what went well, what didn’t and what you might do about it questions?

Doing this regularly makes sure that you look backwards occasionally. This means you celebrate your achievements rather than always looking at the next thing in a never ending todo list. It allows you to set goals, check how you’re doing against them, and decide if they’re still the goals that are relevant. You can spot good and bad patterns you can improve on, try new systems in your personal life, and keep yourself on track.

Have you ever done a personal retrospective? If you have how long has it been since the last one?