014 - I used psychology to build my reviews and self analysis processes, here's how

You’ve got your second brain (or are on the way to building one), along with your goals, habit tracker, project tracker—the second brain 101 kit—all ready to go.

You’ve got ambitions, dreams, aspirations, yearnings, and visions. The initial enthusiasm from your first movements toward something exciting is practically buzzing in your hands, and you can almost see everything unfolding before your eyes.

Then comes one bad day. One bad week. One bad month. Your dopamine drops, and everything starts to feel pointless, senseless—a waste of time.

In those early moments, everything felt real, like it was happening. The manifestation was strong (and so was the dopamine). But things didn’t happen fast enough. And that’s okay because things happen when you’re ready, not when you want them to happen.

Your enthusiasm died because it was tied to the outcome. And enthusiasm is the steam that powers success.

When people say “detach from the outcome” or “focus on the journey,” what they’re really saying is, “Check your feelings, and don’t rely on them for enthusiasm. Build your own methods to revive enthusiasm.”

So, what does this have to do with weekly reviews?

If you place all your energy on the outcome, a single bad day or month can ruin your momentum. We live in small deeds—not in years, months, or even weeks. We live from the thoughts we think.

And what better way to celebrate and reflect on those small deeds than through a review? If you’re losing that initial spark, you need something to pull you back on track. Your small deeds, reflected in your review, can become your source of motivation.

Translation: you need to build a weekly review process that keeps you anchored to the journey, even when your feelings fluctuate.

Most people feel, but few really think—or at least they don’t parse their thoughts as deeply. The emotional side of your mentality is just as important as the thinking side, but most operate at only half capacity.

Yes, I’ll offer a few ChatGPT prompts at the end (if you are a subscriber) to help you get started with your reviews.

You can create a Notion journal, use an Obsidian template, print it out, or even write on your wall for all I care—what matters is that you do it.

And more importantly, that you stick to it. Find a method that guarantees adherence.

These reviews don’t need to take more than 5-10 minutes. They shouldn’t be a chore, but a ritual.

Building a self-analysis that boosts your confidence

If we look at the three levels of needs—basic, psychological, and self-fulfillment—we get clues about what we should focus on at a personal level.

Self-analysis is an inward look at these needs—not through external assessment, but by examining how your mind and emotions respond to the outside world, your own actions, thoughts, and feelings.

If you’re aiming to become better, bigger, stronger, richer—whatever your aspirations may be—remember to continually refine these areas. I don’t know what’s most important to you—you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

Thoughts and character are one. If you want to change your character, you’ll need to change how it manifests in your thoughts, how circumstances affect your thoughts, and how your environment shapes them. How can you better harmonize the internal with the external? What’s missing? What needs adjusting? How are you reacting?

You can only get comfortable with what you want when you’re comfortable enough to be honest with yourself.

I’ve included a self-analysis in the No Excuse Bootcamp, and I’ve received such an emotional responses from students that I've included in other products as well, as a way to realign people that might need a self-inflicted-thought-pivoting-smack-around.

Building weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews

My review process is a bit different from self-analysis.

While the self-analysis is introspective, reviews zoom in and zoom out—covering everything from the micro to the macro, helping you gain perspective on each area of your life.

The goal is to have a detached, bird’s-eye view of your week, month, quarter, and year. This allows you to make new plans, shift focus, or change strategies without letting emotions dictate your decisions.

There’s a time for emotions, and that’s where self-analysis comes in. But there’s also a time to leave emotions behind and be more objective—a skill most people lack.

Weekly: Stay Sharp

This is where you catch the small stuff before it becomes a mess. By the end of the week, I sit down and look at everything I’ve done — not obsessing over what went wrong but figuring out why it didn’t go right. It’s all about the daily habits, the feelings that come up, and the slight adjustments. It’s like checking your map as you go: if you’re off track, course-correct now before you drift too far. This way, you keep your momentum intact.

You also gain a sense of renewed purpose, and that can lead to the so self elusive enthusiasm.

Monthly: See the Patterns

I use the monthly review to spot patterns. If something keeps falling apart or taking too long, it's a signal. One bad day or a tough week is normal, but if it's happening over and over, something needs fixing. This is where I zoom out a bit and figure out if my goals still make sense or if my approach needs to be adjusted. The monthly check-in lets me cut off dead weight before it becomes a bigger problem.

It usually stems from a lack of confidence somewhere — for me at least. I need to spot it and treat it immediately.

Quarterly: Strategy Mode

The quarterly review is my "big play" moment. This is when I take stock of what’s been working on a larger scale and decide if I need to go harder on certain projects or let others go. Here, I’m looking at results, not just actions. Am I where I expected to be, or has my direction shifted? Sometimes the best move is a full pivot — this is the time to figure that out.

You might have seen my "Growth Panoramas" on Instagram stories if you've followed me for long enough. The Growth Panoramas are my quarterly reviews, my strategy mode. I do this directly in Notion with my business goals side by side.

Annual: The Big Picture

The annual review is for the long game. This is the deep dive. Here I get real with myself — did I hit those ambitious targets? Where did I fall short? I’m not just thinking about the past year but where this sets me up for the next one. Did I push hard enough? Did I evolve? It’s also when I get to celebrate the wins because they deserve it, no matter how small.

But like any muscle, this skill can be trained. It might be uncomfortable at first, but trust me, it’s worth it.

When it comes to Maslow's hierarchy, I just separate the 3 main groups on each review.

Unlike many people think, you do not have to use the same "template" for review every time, specially for the monthly and annual reviews.

With ChatGPT, it's a lot easier to instantly get a series of questions that are more relevant.