The year end is coming, before we move on to the new year, it’s high time for all of us to do a review for the year. To me, doing this annual review is like getting a report card. It’s no different with my annual review – except these results aren’t for my studies – they’re bigger. They’re for my life.

　　时间转瞬到年底，在我们步入新的一年之前，我们所有人都应该对这一年做个回顾总结。对于我来说，年终总结就算是拿成绩单。年终总结和成绩单一样，只不过收获的并不是学习成绩，它们更重要，是关于我的人生的总结。

Importance of Year End Reviews

年终总结的重要性

　　So why is it important to do a year end review? There are 4 simple reasons:

　　年终总结为什么这么重要？有这样四个简单的理由：

　　1. Draw lessons from the year

　　从一年中吸取经验教训

　　What have you experienced this year? What have you learned from them? With every experience we face, there are important things to learn. We can either let these incidences pass us by, or we can stop to understand, internalize them, and draw lessons from them. Life is your school, and the lessons are dressed up as your everyday incidences. You don’t want to be living year after year without learning from your experiences. That’s just sleepwalking your life away.

　　2011这一年，你经历了些什么？从中你又学到了些什么？我们面对的每一次经历，都有一些重要的东西值得学习，我们可能会让发生的这些事情就从我们的生命中匆匆而过，或者我们也可以选择停下来，理解并消化这些经历，从中学到经验教训。生活就是你的学校，这些经验教训会假扮成每天的琐事。你也不想年复一年只是过生活，却从不从经历中学到些什么吧，那样的话，你只是在梦游度日。

　　There are a lot of lessons which I learn every year. Looking back at my review for 2007, one of the biggest lessons I learned is that our reactions to life’s situations is a choice, and it’s up to how we make out of situations we encounter. This realization came after a highly intense period at my job. At that time I was already a positive person, but the situation was so out of control that it really made me negative. It was after a short period of feeling miserable that I realized that the reality was such and it was up to me to make the best out of it. I could either sit and bitch about it which would do absolutely nothing to change the situation, or I could take action and make the best out of it. This small shift in my mindset created a big shift in my reality – it made me a lot more proactive and solution-oriented. It made me realize that many of us generate unnecessary baggage with negative situations in life, and it’s all about taking action to create the lives that we want. Happiness is truly a choice.

　　每年我都能学到很多。现在回头看看我2007年的总结，我学到的最重要的一课是“我们对生活环境的反应是一种选择”，取决于我们如何解决遇到的情况。这种感悟是在我的工作经历了一段高度紧张的阶段之后得出的。其实那时候我是个很积极向上的人，但是当时的情况完全不在我的掌控下，让我也变得消极了。有那么一小段时间，我觉得很痛苦，然后我就意识到，生活就是这样，如何做到最好取决于我自己，我可以选择干坐在那里抱怨牢骚，但这根本对改变现状一点帮助都不起；我也可以选择采取行动做到最好。这样简单的心态转变使我的生活出现了很大的改变：我变得更加主动，积极选择解决问题的方法。这也让我意识到，我们许多人在遇到不利状况时，总是背负了太多不必要的包袱，只要采取行动，我们就能创造想要的生活。幸福快乐其实只是个选择。

　　Because I would write down lessons I learned each time (in my life handbook)， I could then build upon my learnings. Rather than deja vuing through life situations, every time I would think about how I could apply what I had learned earlier and how I could do something different. As a result, I kept moving forward in my growth.

　　因为我每次都会记下学到的经验教训(在我的生活手册里)，所以我从所学中慢慢成长。每次总结后我都会想，下次遇到我会如何利用之前学到的改正错误，而不是一次次的重复犯错栽跟头。就这样，我在成长的路上一步步前进。

　　2. Wrap up what you’ve done this year

　　打包今年所做的事情

　　Many things can happen in a year and this is the perfect time to wrap them up. Were there any ups and downs? Did you get a promotion? Did you recently quit your job and joined a new workplace? Did you just start up a business? Did you move to a new place? Did you just end an unhappy relationship? Did you move on from a bad partnership? Any major events took place? Or perhaps there are nothing significant that happened?

　　每年都会发生许许多多的事情，现在就是你把之前的事情打包的最佳时机。生活中有一些起起落落？你升职了？最近刚辞职进入新的工作环境？刚开始创业？搬到新地方？刚结束一段不快乐的感情？走出了一段很糟的伙伴关系？发生了很多大事？也或许没什么重要的事情发生？

　　This is the time to wrap up the year. It’s time to let go of past baggage, tie up the loose ends, tidy up your feelings, and get ready for what’s ahead.

　　现在是该打包这一年了，也是时候放下这些过去的包袱，做一些收尾让工作有始有终，收拾起情绪，准备迎接即将到来的新一年。

　　3. Regain focus

　　重新找到重点

　　After working for a few years, you’d find that the years sort of just start to blend into each other. Soon it’s hard to tell one year apart from the next. Subsequently, it’s so easy to fall into a routine without being conscious of it. Sometimes I hear people commenting that they’re not sure what exactly they’ve been doing with the past few years of their lives, because everything just seems like the same.

　　工作了几年后你会发现，每年似乎开始有些混在一起的感觉，很难把它们区分开来。然后不知不觉，工作就很容易变成例行公事的老套路。有时候我会听到人们在说，不知道过去的几年具体都干了些什么，因为一切看起来都一样。

　　It’s just like driving. When you’re driving in a car, it can be hard to see where you are and where you’re heading to. On the other hand, pausing for a short moment to look at the map can be amazingly helpful. Where are you right now? How far have you traveled? Where do you want to go to? Doing so helps you to regain focus.

　　这就像开车一样。当你开车的时候，很难看出来你开到哪和要去哪。而另一方面，如果你停下来看看地图，你会发现超级有帮助。你现在正在哪儿？你走了有多远了？你想去哪儿？年终总结会帮你重新找到重点。

　　Like I mentioned above, doing my annual review is like getting the report card for my life. How do I grade myself for this year? Do I give myself an A+? A? B? C? D? or even F? This assessment reminds me if I have lived this year the way I had wanted to.

　　我之前提到过，写年终总结，就像拿成绩单一样。今年给自己打多少分？A+? A? B? C? D? 还是F? 这样的自我评估会提醒我，让我反思过去的一年是否是我想要的生活方式。