---
title: "Yearly Process"
description: "A five question review done on a birthday or new year to ground a written vision for the year ahead."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/yearly-process/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Yearly Process

> A five question review done on a birthday or new year to ground a written vision for the year ahead.

Emma Grede's framework, from Start With Yourself, pp. 12 to 22.

Framework 1 of 14 from [Start With Yourself](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/index.md) by Emma Grede. Category: Systems and operations.

## The steps

1. **Why goals were missed.** Look back at the goals you did not achieve and find the real reasons with brute honesty, without blaming external factors, then write it down.
2. **Three things you wish you did more of.** List three things that give you joy, feel aligned with your purpose or leave you accomplished.
3. **What you are avoiding.** Name what you are avoiding and scared of, and ask what you would do if you did not care what anyone would say.
4. **How you will learn and grow.** Choose how you will learn and grow in the year to come, such as a course, a practice or a new skill.
5. **Habits and boundaries.** Write no more than three habits and three boundaries, treated as limits and nonnegotiables.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Part One: Vision, pp. 12–22

Part One is about vision. Grede describes drawing the same Christmas tree scene as a child and later living inside it, then traces her early hustle: a paper round at twelve, selling account cards, writing a hundred letters for unpaid placements and six years at a fashion production company. Her sponsorship division earned millions while she netted £26,000, and a £4,000 raise offer pushed her to quit and build the work for herself. She then sets out her habit of writing multi-year vision statements and a five question yearly process done on her September birthday.

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/yearly-process.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/yearly-process-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/yearly-process.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/start-with-yourself/yearly-process-dark.png