Inspired by Gretchen Rubin, I pulled out my calendar and made a list of notable events that occurred in 2017. When I was finished, I marked each event with an up-arrow for the good things (two for supergood!), a down-arrow for the events I wouldn’t want to repeat, or a sideways arrow, indicating neutral happenings.

*Side note, if you know me personally and you got a “when can we get together” text from me last week, time with you got two up-arrows!

Right away, I scheduled as many up-arrow activities as I could, figuring that I could get a head start on having a great 2018. There’s a storytelling night I want to return to, a dance teacher I want to practice with, and I definitely need more happy hours with friends.

There weren’t a lot of down-arrows, but I took note of them as well. I learned that while I enjoy working at the big, organized events for one employer, I don’t really want to do their shorter day-to-day gigs. And that although I like each one of a particular group of friends, I didn’t much enjoy it when we all got together as a group. I also realized that I really don’t need any more beginning gardening classes!

I hope 2017 has been a good year for you, and that you can take a little time to review it, so that 2018 can be your best year yet!