Updated January 2026.
Another year has passed, remarkably fast and excruciatingly slow both in turns and at the same time.
Time is a weird concept to me. Once I learned that it’s not the same “time” for everyone in the world simultaneously, a lot of time-related traditions became meaningless for me, especially perhaps New Year’s.
Why make a big deal over a holiday with a pinnacle that varies according to your time zone (and on which side of the international date line you happen to be)?
And yet, I still find myself drawn to pause and reflect, set intentions, and dream about what could be–something I do throughout the year, but somehow, at the culmination of the year, it feels like something shared, as so many people around the world are doing the same. In their own time zones, of course.
Talking to My Past Selves
One thing I’ve always loved to do might, at first glance, seem very unhelpful.
When I reflect on the year, I talk to the self I was at that time, to whisper a few words of guidance, encouragement, warnings, and yes, even threats. So silly, right? Whatever happened has already done just that…happened. Nothing I tell my past selves changes anything. I’ve been told it’s a futile exercise, that I can’t change the past, and that I should instead look only to the future.
I disagree strongly.
I think this helps me acknowledge the progress I’ve made. It helps me identify where I fell short and where I could improve. And it gives me space to prepare myself for whatever’s coming. This future may not include the same challenges, but they could be similar enough for me to recognize which tools I already have that I could use to get through them.
At the same time, actively revisiting the amazing things that happened throughout the year (in my memories, that is) prevents them from being overshadowed by the dark. This helps me see what is sparkling with light in the future.
Reflections in Retrospect: From Personal Practice to Classroom Resource
This is what inspired me to create Dear 2019 Me way back in December 2019. I was answering all the questions I usually set for myself when I realized that these yearly questions would have been wonderful to use in class.
Of course, the following year was 2020. So many of the questions took on new layers of depths. That line between who we were in 2019 and who we became in 2020, well, that boundary became rather distinct, wouldn’t you say?
Back then, it felt like THE diving line. Now, six years later, I realize that any year can create those before-and-after moments. 202 was just particularly loud about it.
Each year since, I’ve changed the year on each page, changed the cover to reflect some aspect of that year, and sometimes added more questions. Because the questions we need to ask ourselves shift as we shift. Interested? Click here to see it in my TpT store.
Looking Forward by Walking, Not Running
After the reflection and the inner time traveling comes the future part. The sun has set, and it’s about to rise. Again, a whole new year (hopefully) stretches before me like a horizon I walk towards.
Walk, not run.
I’m in no hurry because I know that when I get there, there’ll either be another or there won’t be. Whichever the case, it’s the present I want to savor, not the future.
That doesn’t mean I don’t make plans or hopeful intentions. I definitely do.
I wish, though, that I had learned long ago how to make better goals so that I could stand a better chance of seeing them through rather than dismissing them altogether as wishful thinking of things out of my control.
Goals That Work: Sculpting the Path to the Tomorrow They Want
I didn’t learn much about goal setting or achieving goals until well into my adulthood. Now, of course, I find difficulty in shutting up about it. I want to ensure that others learn about it much earlier in their lives than I did.
Just as parents always want better lives for their children than the lives they lived themselves, we teachers want to set our students up for as much success as possible. We dream of what they might one day achieve, even when we’re no longer in the classroom ourselves.
That’s why I keep creating goal-themed resources–the ones I wish I’d had for students long gone now. Whether your students are discussing goals at the beginning of the calendar new year or the beginning of the term, something happens.
They start seeing their lives as something they’re actively creating rather than something happening to them.
And that shift? Totally worth building resources for, even from outside the classroom.
Farewell Past Self
So, as I wait for today’s sunset on this year, I want to wish you all a happy new year! We made it. (as in survived it and created it)
And we’ll make it again next year.
What are you whispering to your past self today?
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