Mark Carey writes:

 Part of the way I travel through Advent is through looking back and looking forward. This is, in fact, what I'd call the travelling motion of this season – you look back to the birth of Jesus and look forward to the return of the King.
There’s a significant element of taking stock of things – being curious and thoughtfully prayerful about what has been, what is, and what will be.
Here are some good questions to ask yourself and to hold before God:
 

What have I learned this year?

How have I grown more like Jesus?

What is different from a year ago?

What am I going to leave behind?

What am I going to take forward?

 
On the back of exploring these questions – usually via some walks on the beach and some scribbling in a journal - I get a sense of what the shape of the coming year
is going to be and how I want to enter it.
So why don’t you have a go at this?
You will handle it differently from me – but I hope the results will be the same
– a closer walk with Jesus.