Before You Sprint into the New Year, Pause and Reflect

Five proven personal and team reflection exercises to help you succeed in 2025

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Every new year begins with familiar energy: ambitious goals, fresh projects, and strong determination. Yet, in our eagerness to sprint forward, we skip a crucial step – we don’t reflect on our journey.

When teams bypass this vital pause, history repeats itself. Past mistakes resurface, and early momentum gives way to familiar frustrations.

High-performing teams know better. Sports teams don’t play game after game; artists don’t perform endlessly. Successful people deliberately make space to reflect, practice, and improve how they play.

Your team deserves this same opportunity to pause, learn, and reset. Here are five powerful reflection exercises so you can charge into 2025 with purpose and focus.

1. Start with Yourself

Before diving into team dynamics, I encourage the leaders I work with to embark on personal reflection. Building self-awareness is fundamental to improving team collaboration.

Self-awareness isn't just another leadership buzzword – research backs it u…