How I Use Life Reviews to Stay on Track

Over the years life reviews have become one of the most valuable parts of how I operate. The concept sounds fancy but it's really just journaling with direction — instead of writing freely about whatever's on your mind, you're deliberately reviewing the core areas of your life to make sure what you're actually doing is bringing you closer to where you want to be.

This process has provided me with tremendous value over the years, helping me grow in all aspects of life — so I wanted to share what it looks like for me and how you can apply it to your own life to get the same benefits.

Schedule

I don't do them on a fixed schedule. No "every Sunday" or "first of the month" rule. I do them when I feel like I'm drifting — when things feel overwhelming, when I've lost clarity on what I'm working toward, or when I get that nagging feeling that something is off but I can't pinpoint what. That feeling is usually the trigger. To be honest, most of the time when I sit down to do a life review I'm already in a negative mental space — and that's exactly when they're most useful.

Structure

Having a loose structure matters. Without it you end up either staring at a blank page or writing in circles. Mine covers the areas of life I put the most weight on:

Habits

Your habits are the foundation of everything. If your daily habits are off, everything else will follow. This section is about being honest about what you're actually doing every day versus what you think you're doing.

• Have I been consistent with my positive ROI habits, or am I slipping?
• Have I picked up any negative habits recently?
• What one habit is making the biggest difference to my life right now?

Dopamine Management

This one is particularly important for me — I have ADHD, and if I start indulging in cheap, undeserved dopamine (doom scrolling, excessive gaming, junk entertainment, etc.) I tend to slip fast. The quality of my focus, discipline, and output is directly tied to how well I'm managing this. Even if you don't have ADHD, cheap dopamine is a silent performance killer.

• Am I reaching for cheap dopamine hits when I should be working?
• How is my baseline focus and discipline compared to my best periods?
• Am I escaping difficult work by indulging in cheap dopamine? If yes, how?

Relationships

The people around you have an enormous impact on your mental state, motivation, and direction. This section is about making sure you're investing in the right relationships and addressing the ones that are draining you.

• Have I been neglecting anyone important to me lately — and if so, how do I fix it?
• Are there any relationships causing me stress or negatively impacting me that I've been avoiding addressing?
• Are the top 5 people I surround myself people I respect/admire? (You become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with — this isn't just a motivational quote, it's something that plays out in real life. Your standards, habits, ambitions, and even your income tend to mirror the people closest to you. Worth examining honestly.)

Physical Health

Sleep, diet, general physical state — how well are you taking care of the machine? Everything runs better when the basics are in order.

• Am I getting enough quality sleep consistently, or have I been cutting corners?
• Have I been using food lately to fuel myself or comfort myself?
• Am I hydrating enough?
• Are there any physical warning signs I've been brushing off?
• How are my energy levels day to day — am I running on empty or feeling strong? If low what are the main causes?
• Am I getting enough sunlight and fresh air or mostly indoors?

Mental Health

Mental health is the multiplier — when it's good everything else gets easier, when it's bad everything else gets harder. This section is about getting an honest read on where you actually are, not where you want to be.

• What is the biggest source of stress in my life right now? Can I optimize it in any way?
• Is my current stress level sustainable or am I heading toward burnout?
• Is there something I've been dreading that I keep putting off?
• Am I being honest with myself about how I'm actually feeling? Am I letting myself feel and process or pushing my emotions down?
• Have I been using work, scrolling, or other distractions to avoid sitting with difficult emotions?
• Is my mental state helping or hurting my output right now? Do I need to address it in any way?

Finances

Money stress is one of the fastest ways to derail everything else. This section isn't about obsessing over numbers — it's about making sure there are no financial blind spots you've been avoiding.

• Am I on track financially relative to where I want to be right now?
• Am I trading time for money in a way that doesn't scale or compound my skillset, and does that need to change?
• What would I need to do differently to meaningfully increase my income in the next 6 months?
• Am I spending money in ways that align with my actual priorities?
• Are there subscriptions or recurring costs I'm paying for but not using?
• Is my financial situation giving me peace of mind or constant background anxiety?
• Are there any financial obligations I've been avoiding or ignoring?
• Am I investing in my own growth and development or just covering costs?
• Am I being honest with myself about my financial situation or telling myself a comfortable story?

Fitness

Physical training has a direct impact on mental performance, energy, and discipline. This section is a quick honest check on whether fitness has been a priority or something that has slipped through the cracks.

• Am I showing up for my workouts even when I don't feel like it?
• Have I been pushing myself enough or just doing enough to say I trained?
• Am I recovering properly between sessions?
• Is my fitness routine sustainable long term or am I heading for burnout?
• Is my nutrition supporting my fitness goals?

Education & Personal Growth

Are you actually learning and improving, or just staying busy? This section is about making sure your skills and knowledge are moving forward, not just your task list.

• What have I genuinely learned in the last month?
• Am I applying what I learn or just accumulating knowledge without using it?
• Am I investing enough time in deep skill building or spreading myself too thin?
• Have I been taking on challenges that push me or have I been staying in my comfort zone?
• Is my career trajectory moving in the direction I want?
• Am I becoming a better version of myself or staying the same?
• Have I been keeping up with my book reading habit?
• Is there a gap between who I am and who I want to be that I need to address?
• What would the best version of me be doing that I'm currently not?

Honesty is the whole point

The only way a life review is actually useful is if you're completely honest with yourself. It sounds obvious but most people aren't — they soften the bad parts, avoid the uncomfortable truths, and end up with a review that tells them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. That defeats the entire purpose.

Don't worry about how the review looks or reads. Nobody else is seeing this. Write what's actually true. Try to be brutally honest with yourself — don't sugar coat anything. I tend to be quite harsh with myself, and that works for me — but tread with caution. You also have to have some compassion for yourself. You're only human after all.

What happens after

Every review I do impacts what comes next in some way. Most of the time I come out with a clear list of actionable to-dos — things I need to start, stop, or change. Sometimes though the review tells me that actually, everything is on track and I just need to keep going. That outcome is underrated. When you're in an overwhelmed mental state, having something confirm that you're not actually off track is genuinely valuable — it cuts through the noise and gives you clarity to just keep moving.

One important thing — don't try to change everything at once. That's a recipe for getting overwhelmed, slipping, and falling back into your old ways. Pick one or two of the most important takeaways and focus on those for an extended period of time before adding more. I'm saying this from experience — I've been in this cycle many times where I try to change everything at once, which eventually ends in a mini burnout and finding myself back at square one. It's an insanely frustrating place to be and completely avoidable if you just focus on one thing at a time. Ambition is great, but don't let your ambition be a weakness in this case.

How long does it take

Not long. These aren't marathon writing sessions — they're honest snapshots. Anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on how much there is to unpack. The goal isn't to write a lot, it's to write honestly.

The setup

I keep it simple — a Notion database with a date entry, and each entry is a page where I document the review. Notion is my second brain for everything — personal and business — so it made sense to keep life reviews there too. No complicated templates or scoring systems, just a structured page I can write in and return to over time — actually I recommend you avoid complexity, this isn't supposed to be something complex or hard, the more friction you remove the easier it will be to use this process and reap the benefits of it. Simplicity is key!

The value of keeping everything in one place compounds. Over months and years you build a database of honest self-reflection that's genuinely hard to get any other way. Patterns emerge. You start to understand your own cycles — when you tend to drift, what triggers overwhelm, what conditions you perform best under, etc.

What I've learned from years of doing this

I've learned a lot about myself through this process and been able to change and improve significantly over the years — but the one thing that stands out above everything else is understanding my ADHD and how to manage myself around it.

I've come to accept that I just have an ADHD brain. I'm wired this way and there's no changing it. There are significant advantages to it, but there are also significant disadvantages. Through years of life reviews I've developed a much deeper understanding of myself — how I operate, when I slip, what brings me back, and how to position my ADHD so the double-edged sword cuts in my favor more often than not.

But your experience will likely be completely different from mine. We're all wired differently, with unique strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots. What you discover about yourself through this process only you can find — and that's exactly what makes it valuable.

Make it your own

Don't blindly follow my structure — this is what works for me, not a universal formula. Take it as a starting point, try it, see what resonates, cut what doesn't, and add whatever's missing for your specific life. The best life review system is the one you'll actually use consistently. Experiment with it, adjust it over time, and optimize it around how you think and what matters most to you.

Even my own system has changed so many times throughout the years, and I'm still tweaking and experimenting with it as I go.

Try it now

You've read enough — close this and try it for yourself.

There's a big difference between learning about something and actually putting it into practice. This won't take you long. Open a blank page — Notion, a g-doc, or even a physical notebook — but do it now. Don't put it off, don't let your self-improvement slip away from you.

And if this actually helped you, send me an email or hit me up on LinkedIn and tell me about your experience. It'll brighten my day :)