Last week I discussed the “why” of doing a Life Review process. This week I want to give you an overview of how to begin one.

A Life Review represents the body of your life. The timeline provides the skeleton or underlying structure. The events themselves are the flesh, while the meanings you attach to those events become the connective tissue holding the entire story together.


The Timeline

The timeline can be as simple as a horizontal line drawn across a blank 8.5” x 11” page. Or it can be as intricate and artistic as your imagination allows. Here are three different examples:

The Journey Timeline works well for emotionally reflective people who naturally think in terms of meaning, themes, and transformation. It emphasizes movement, turning points, and growth.


The Sticky-Note Timeline works well for visual processors, people uncovering patterns, and those who want flexibility. Memories can move, expand, and reorganize over time.


The Simple Timeline works well for analytical thinkers, people who feel overwhelmed, and those who simply want to begin. It keeps the process concrete and manageable.


There is no single correct timeline form. These examples are only a tiny sample of what you can create. Use your imagination and have fun with it.


You may divide your timeline into decades, developmental periods (infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, midlife, older age), or any other structure that reflects how you experience your life. Some people focus on transitions, losses, relationships, career changes, spiritual turning points, or seasons of growth and struggle.


The goal is not chronological precision. The goal is to recognize the patterns of your life and the meaning you’ve made from the events along the way.


As long as the timeline reflects how you envision and experience your life, it is the right one for you.


Identifying Emotionally Significant Moments

Not every event matters equally. In fact, unless you have an unusual memory, you will likely forget large stretches of time, especially as you age. Yet certain moments carry such emotional resonance that they remain permanently lodged in your memory.


These may include both positive and painful experiences such as:

• defining moments
• wounds
• successes
• humiliations
• awakenings
• betrayals
• risks
• turning points
• moments of belonging
• moments of rejection


As you identify these moments, one central question can guide the process:

“What moments changed the way I saw myself?”


Looking at the Data of Your Life

Once you’ve filled out your timeline in the way that makes sense to you, it becomes time to step back and examine what it reveals.


Doing a Life Review calls forth both the author and the scientist within you.


The scientist observes the data and looks for patterns.

The author creates meaning from what those patterns reveal.


Life Review also calls forth your inner coach as you begin questioning the stories you formed about yourself at each point along the timeline.


While many people can do this process on their own, a Life Review often becomes richer in the presence of a trusted coach, therapist, or listener who can reflect back recurring themes, assumptions, and patterns you may not fully see yourself.


For now, I suggest the following areas as fruitful starting points for inquiry:

• Questions About Events
• Questions About Meaning
• Questions About Patterns
• Questions About Survival Strategies
• Questions About Strength and Resilience
• Questions About Re-Storying


Next week we’ll explore each of these areas more deeply.

As you read this list of questions, which areas most capture your attention? Which feel emotionally charged or personally relevant?