Turning experience into smarter next steps
In this chapter, you will:
- Reflect on what went well and what didn’t.
- Spot the lessons hidden in your successes and setbacks.
- Plan how to adjust your next step for better results.
By the end of this chapter, you will:
- Be able to move forward without repeating the same mistakes.
- Build confidence by noticing and celebrating wins.
- Turn effort into progress, and progress into momentum.
Tracking tells you what happened. Reviewing tells you what it means. This chapter helps you step back, make sense of your progress, and adjust your plan so you get better results next time. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about improving bit by bit, one loop at a time.
These three chapters work best as a team: Plan. Track. Review. Each one builds on the last. Then together, they keep your change moving forward.
Why It Is Important to Learn From What Happened
Everyone makes mistakes. That is just part of the process. But the key to long-term progress is learning from those mistakes rather than repeating them. If we do not take time to look back at what worked and what did not, we miss the chance to make our next steps easier and more effective.
Think of reviewing as your way of collecting feedback from yourself. It helps you notice patterns, highlight small wins, and avoid falling into the same traps again. Without this kind of honest reflection, it’s easy to drift off course, forget what helped you succeed, or feel stuck repeating the same frustrating results.
Reviewing does not need to be complicated. Just ask yourself a few good questions and take a few moments to answer honestly.
How to Review and Learn
1. What went well?
Think about what went right this time around. You might have followed through on your plan more often than before, or found something that made it easier than expected. Even small wins are worth noticing.
You could ask yourself:
- What did I manage to achieve?
- What happened that I felt good or proud about?
- What parts of my plan worked the way I hoped?
- In what ways did I succeed this time?
Write in your notebook the things that went well.
2. What didn’t go so well?
Now take a look at what got in the way. Be honest, not harsh. This is not about beating yourself up, it’s about spotting what needs attention.
You could ask yourself:
- What parts of my plan didn’t work out the way I expected?
- Were there days or moments when I didn’t follow through?
- What did I try that didn’t go as well as I hoped?
Write in your notebook the things that didn’t go according to plan.
3. What could I do differently next time?
Use what you’ve just learned to improve your next step. The goal here is not to be perfect, but to make progress. If something worked, you can do more of it. If something tripped you up, you can find a way around it.
You could ask yourself:
- If I did this again, what would I change to make it easier or more successful?
- How could I build on what went well?
- How could I reduce or avoid the things that got in the way?
Write in your notebook the lessons you learned and how you could improve things next time.
Wrapping Up
Reviewing your actions is where real growth happens. It’s not about judging yourself, but about learning what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do differently next time.
When you take time to reflect, you stop repeating the same old patterns and start making smarter, more informed choices. You turn effort into progress, and progress into momentum.
If you want help reviewing your plans, spotting patterns, or deciding how to improve next time, I can guide you through it with my In-Depth Coaching service.
Find out more or get started by clicking here.
Capture in your notebook, the highlights from this chapter and how they apply to your life.