90-Minute-Year: Compressing Strategy into Sprints

The 90-Minute Year Review That Won't Make You Feel Like Garbage

It's that time of year again. Your LinkedIn feed fills with productivity influencers sharing their "Year in Review" spreadsheets tracking 47 different metrics. Instagram overflows with before-and-after transformations and achievement highlight reels. Your inbox clutters with "New Year, New You" frameworks promising you can completely reinvent yourself in 12 months if you just hustle harder.

And somewhere in the middle of all this performance optimization theater, you're supposed to feel inspired to do your own year-end reflection. Instead, you probably feel vaguely inadequate and exhausted before you even start.

Here's the truth nobody selling you productivity courses wants to admit: most year-end review processes are designed to make you feel bad. They focus relentlessly on gaps between who you are and who you "should" be. They frame anything less than constant improvement as failure. They turn reflection?which should be clarifying and even nourishing?into an exercise in self-criticism.

What if there's a different way? A year-end review that actually feels good, that gives you useful insights without the shame spiral and that leads to realistic experiments rather than doomed resolutions?

That's what we're building here. Grab 90 minutes, a notebook or document, something to drink and let's review your year in a way that treats you like a human rather than a productivity machine.

Why Most Year Reviews Feel Terrible

Before we get into what works, let's understand why typical year-end reflection processes backfire.

The standard approach is essentially an audit: list your goals from last January, measure how many you achieved, identify where you fell short, set bigger goals for next year. It's designed like a performance review at work, which is precisely the problem?you're not an employee being evaluated by corporate headquarters. You're a complex human being navigating an unpredictable life.

This audit mindset creates several problems:

It assumes January-you knew what would matter to December-you, which is rarely true. Life changes. Priorities shift. The goal that seemed crucial in January might be irrelevant by June for perfectly good reasons, but the audit framework treats this as failure rather than adaptation.
It treats all time and experiences as only valuable if they produced measurable outcomes. The quiet months where you recovered from burnout? Failure, according to the audit. The weeks spent supporting a friend through crisis? Not on the goal sheet, so it doesn't count.
It ignores context entirely. Maybe you didn't hit fitness goals because you were dealing with a health issue, or career goals because you were caregiving for family, or creative goals because you were surviving a legitimately difficult year. The audit doesn't care?it only sees the gap.
Most insidiously, it frames you as fundamentally broken and in need of fixing. The entire exercise becomes about identifying deficiencies and engineering a better version of yourself, as if current-you is just a rough draft.

No wonder people avoid doing year reviews or feel worse after completing them.

A Different Framework: Noticing, Not Judging

The approach we're taking here starts from a radically different premise: you're not broken, you're a human being who lived through a year of experiences, some chosen and some not and there's value in simply noticing what happened without immediate judgment about whether it was good or bad.

This isn't toxic positivity?pretending everything was great when it wasn't. It's not avoiding accountability or growth. It's recognizing that useful reflection requires honesty without harshness, curiosity without criticism.

We're going to look at four domains of life?health, relationships, money and creativity?but not to grade yourself in each. Instead, we're noticing patterns, unexpected learnings and what actually gave you energy versus drained it. Then we'll identify 2-3 small experiments for the next quarter based on what you discovered.

Small experiments, not massive resolutions. Because sustainable change happens through iteration and adjustment, not through willpower-fueled transformations that collapse by February.

Ready? Set a timer for 90 minutes. Take breaks if you need them. This isn't a test you can fail.

Domain 1: Health (20 minutes)

Health is typically where year-end reviews get most punishing?filled with shame about the gym membership you didn't use, the diet you didn't maintain, the sleep schedule you couldn't fix.

We're not doing that. Instead, we're asking questions designed to reveal what actually happened and why.

Energy Patterns: Think through the year month by month. When did you feel most physically vital and energetic? When did you feel most depleted? Don't judge it?just notice. Write down 2-3 specific periods and what was happening then.
What actually worked: Forget what you "should" have done. What health-supporting things did you actually do consistently, even if small? Maybe you didn't run marathons, but you took walks when stressed. Maybe you didn't quit caffeine, but you noticed you sleep better when you stop drinking it after 2 PM. Write down what behaviors you naturally gravitated toward that seemed to help.
What you stopped doing: Sometimes the absence of something is progress. Did you quit a toxic gym routine that made you feel bad? Stop forcing yourself to do a form of exercise you hate? Abandon a restrictive diet that wasn't sustainable? Give yourself credit for stopping things that weren't serving you.
Body literacy: What did your body teach you this year? Maybe you learned you're sensitive to certain foods. That you need more sleep than you thought. That your energy crashes if you skip meals. That anxiety manifests as stomach issues. These insights are valuable even if you haven't "fixed" them yet.
One small experiment for Q1: Based on what you noticed, what's one tiny health experiment you could try for three months? Not "go to the gym five times a week"?more like "walk for 10 minutes during lunch break three days a week" or "try going to bed 30 minutes earlier on Sundays." Something so small it feels almost silly, because small and sustainable beats ambitious and abandoned.

Domain 2: Relationships (20 minutes)

Relationships are where life actually happens, yet they're often absent from year-end reviews because they don't fit neat goal frameworks. Let's change that.

Energy audit: Think through the people you spent significant time with this year. Who left you feeling energized, seen and good? Who consistently left you drained, anxious, or small? Just notice the patterns. You don't have to make dramatic friendship breakups?just develop awareness of your relational ecosystem.
Unexpected connections: Were there relationships that surprised you this year? Someone you got closer to unexpectedly? A rekindled friendship? A new connection that became meaningful? Write about what made those work.
What you gave vs. what you got: In your most important relationships, does the flow of support feel reasonably balanced over the year? Are there relationships where you're consistently the giver but rarely the receiver? Or vice versa? Neither is necessarily bad, but awareness helps.
Conflicts and repairs: Did you have significant conflicts this year? How were they handled? Did relationships survive disagreements or did they end them? What does that tell you about the strength or fragility of those bonds?
Neglected connections: Are there people you care about but didn't maintain connection with? Not to feel guilty?life is finite and we can't sustain infinite relationships?but to notice if there are relationships you actually value that got crowded out by circumstance.
One small experiment for Q1: What's one relationship you want to invest in differently? Maybe it's texting one friend once a week just to check in. Scheduling monthly calls with someone you value but haven't talked to much. Setting a boundary with someone who drains you. Having a specific conversation you've been avoiding. One relationship experiment, not a complete social life overhaul.

Domain 3: Money (20 minutes)

Money reviews often dissolve into shame about spending or anxiety about saving. We're approaching this differently: money as a tool that reveals your actual priorities versus your stated ones.

Where it actually went: Look at your bank and credit card statements from the year. Don't judge?just notice. What categories consistently took up resources? What does your spending pattern reveal about what you actually value or need versus what you think you should value?
Best money spent: What purchases or investments genuinely improved your life this year? These might not be the "responsible" ones?maybe the housecleaning service that gave you back mental space mattered more than the retirement contribution. Notice what gave you real value.
Regret purchases: What did you spend money on that you wish you hadn't? Again, not to feel bad, but to understand patterns. Do you make impulse purchases when stressed? Buy things to solve problems that aren't actually solvable by purchasing? Overspend on gifts to avoid difficult conversations?
Money stress moments: When did money cause significant stress this year? What were the patterns?unexpected expenses, ongoing bills you can't quite afford, lifestyle inflation, unclear priorities? Understanding the stress sources is step one to addressing them.
Financial wins: Did you pay off debt? Build an emergency fund? Negotiate a raise? Start investing? Even if your financial life feels messy overall, notice what went right.
One small experiment for Q1: What's one money experiment you could try that feels manageable? Maybe tracking spending in one category for the quarter. Trying a "no-spend weekend" once a month. Automating savings of a small amount you won't miss. Having one honest conversation about money with a partner. One experiment?not a complete financial overhaul.

Domain 4: Creativity (20 minutes)

Creativity often gets squeezed out of adult life entirely, treated as a luxury for people with spare time. But humans need creative expression to feel fully alive?whether that's traditional arts or creative problem-solving in any domain.

What you made: What did you create this year, broadly defined? Meals, gardens, solutions to problems, art, writing, music, crafts, DIY projects, anything. List it all, even things that feel small. You probably created more than you give yourself credit for.
Creative energy: When did you feel most creatively alive? When did that part of you feel most shut down? What were the conditions that supported or suppressed it?
Abandoned projects: What did you start but not finish? Before feeling bad about it, ask: why did it stall? Was it genuinely interesting to you, or were you supposed to care about it? Sometimes abandoning projects is wisdom, not failure?you learned something wasn't actually worth your energy.
Consumption vs. creation: Roughly estimate the ratio of time you spent consuming others' creativity (reading, watching, listening) versus creating your own. Neither is bad?consumption feeds creation?but massive imbalances might reveal something worth examining.
Creative constraints: What stopped you from creative engagement? Time, energy, perfectionism, lack of community, unclear direction, fear of judgment? Understanding the barrier is necessary to address it.
One small experiment for Q1: What's one tiny creative experiment? Not "write a novel"?more like "write for 15 minutes every Sunday morning" or "take one photo daily" or "cook one new recipe a week" or "doodle while on phone calls." Something so low-stakes you can't fail at it.

Synthesis: The 10-Minute Meta-View (10 minutes)

Now step back and look at what you wrote across all four domains. You're not looking for comprehensive life solutions?you're looking for patterns and insights.

Big patterns: What themes appear across multiple domains? If you noticed energy depletion in both health and relationships, that's significant. If you felt creatively blocked and also financially stressed, those might be connected.
Surprise learnings: What did you write that surprised you? Sometimes we don't know what we learned from a year until we reflect on it systematically.
What actually matters to you: Your spending, time use and energy patterns reveal your real priorities, which might differ from what you think they are or should be. Any disconnects worth noticing?
What's actually working: We focus so much on problems that we often miss what's going well. What systems, habits, relationships, or choices are genuinely serving you? How can you protect and maintain those?

Your Q1 Experiments: Going From Insight to Action (Final 10 minutes)

You should now have 4 small experiments, one from each domain. That's already plenty?probably too much if we're honest about human capacity for change.

Here's your final task: pick 2-3 of those experiments that feel most compelling or accessible right now. The others can wait until Q2 or later.

For each experiment you're committing to, write:

The specific experiment: What exactly are you trying? Be specific about frequency, scope and parameters.
Why this matters: Connect it back to what you learned in your review. What pattern or insight is this addressing?
How you'll know it's working: Not "success" or "failure"?more like "what will I notice if this is helpful?" Maybe you'll feel more energized, or less stressed, or more connected. Define the qualitative measure that matters to you.
The checkpoint date: When will you consciously evaluate whether to continue, adjust, or stop this experiment? Three months is reasonable?April 1st for a January start.
What support you need: What will make this experiment easier? Accountability from a friend? A reminder system? Preparation on Sundays? Don't just commit to behavior change?set up the conditions that make it feasible.

Write these down somewhere you'll actually see them. Not buried in a forgotten journal?somewhere visible.

The Anti-Resolution Revolution

Notice what we didn't do here:

We didn't create a comprehensive life transformation plan. We didn't identify everything wrong with you that needs fixing. We didn't set ambitious goals designed to prove your worth. We didn't compare your year to anyone else's highlight reel.
We simply noticed what happened, learned from it without harsh judgment and identified a couple of small experiments worth trying based on those insights.

This is sustainable self-development. This is how actual humans make meaningful changes that stick?through small iterations, course corrections and realistic experiments rather than willpower-fueled transformations that collapse.

Will 2-3 small experiments revolutionize your entire life by this time next year? Probably not. But they might improve it in real, sustainable ways. And the practice of reflective noticing without self-punishment? That's a skill that serves you far beyond any specific goal achievement.

The productivity gurus won't celebrate this approach?it doesn't promise dramatic before-and-after transformations or sell you expensive systems. But it works. And more importantly, it doesn't make you feel like garbage in the process.

That's worth more than any optimization framework.

One Last Thing

If you got through this 90-minute review and realized your year was genuinely hard?that you didn't have energy for experiments or growth because you were surviving something difficult?that's valuable information too.

Sometimes the insight from a year review is: "I survived something genuinely challenging and that took everything I had." That's not failure. That's resilience. Sometimes maintenance is the achievement.

Give yourself credit for making it through. The experiments can wait.

You're doing better than you think. And you're certainly doing better than your inner productivity critic wants you to believe.

Happy new year. Go be a human, not a project.