Sam Horn's Review-Preview Questions

Can you believe we're wrapping up this year and heading into a new one?

A client and I were getting caught up and she said ruefully, “Where did the time go?”

Exactly. It’s said that retirement homes are filled with people asking, “What happened?”

The good news is, there is a way to slow down the fleeting nature of time.

We can honor and enjoy the "passage of time" (as James Taylor suggests in his classic song "The Secret of Life") with an annual Review-Preview ritual.

I used to host Review-Preview salons at the National Press Club. Every December, we’d gather to share highlights from the previous year – and look ahead to the new year.

Participants appreciated these opportunities to connect and reflect on who and what had impacted them – and why - and share their IKIGAI (reason to get up in the morning).

One woman said, "This is kind of like a verbal vision board, isn't it? I’ve done vision boards in the past. It’s uncanny how many of the things I put on my board came true.”

Exactly.

So often, years blend and blur into the next. And that's a regret waiting to happen.

As Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living."

Unless we examine our life, extract insights, and consciously adapt and update our beliefs and behaviors, we don't evolve. And one of the purposes of life is to evolve.

Unless we deliberately imprint the pivotal experiences and individuals of our life, we don't fully value them. We may not even remember them five, ten, years from now.

And that's a shame because the big moments of our life are too precious to take for granted and treat nonchalantly.

There's an answer to this. Schedule a Review-Preview with friends and family members sometime in the next couple of weeks. It might be over dinner or on a weekend afternoon.

You can use these Review-Preview Questions to facilitate a meaningful conversation that adds value for all involved.

Adapt these as you see fit, or create new questions that can help people examine and appreciate their, as Mary Oliver called it, "one wild and precious life."

She also said, "Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it."

That's one of the many benefits of hosting a Review-Preview with people you care about.

It's a way to pay attention, be astonished with your life, and tell about it. Enjoy!

5 Review Questions:

1. Who is someone who impacted me? How so?

2. What’s something I achieved or contributed I’m proud of?

3. What happened that was challenging? What did I learn from it?

4. What did I NOT make time for I wish I had?

5. What am I most grateful for? Why?

5 Preview Questions:

1. Who do I want to spend more time with? How will I do that?

2. How will I give back, add value, make a difference for others?

3. What will I change or do differently in the new year? Why?

4. What is a goal I'd like to achieve by the end of the year?

5. How will I bring more joy, fun, and health into my life?

Queen Elizabeth said, "Good memories are our second chance at happiness."

Review-Preview's are also a second chance at happiness.

Sharing our epiphanies is a way to re-experience who and what matters twice.

You might want to download the OTTER.AI app (a free online recorder which provides an instant voice recording and written transcript in real-time).

Ask people's permission to record their responses so they can listen to - and re-read - what they said whenever they want, as often as they want, in the years ahead.

Thornton Wilder said, "We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

Review-Previews are a way to be fully conscious of our treasures.

The only question now is, when and where will you hold your Review-Preview?

Put it on your calendar right now. Who do you want there? Invite them today.

I promise, it will be time well spent, time well remembered, time well invested.