During the holiday season, it can be really easy to skip right through the last few weeks of the year and kick right into new year mode. While the new year and often new beginnings are right around the corner, I encourage you to take time this season to reflect on all that’s happened in the last 12 months. Let the noise of the holiday chaos settle and carve out time – whatever that means for you – to reflect on these 10 questions.
This is a great activity to do with friends, family, a partner, or others in your life. I hope you’ll be surprised by some of your responses and enjoy wonderful conversation and dialogue with those you reflect with. Grab a pen and paper, give yourself an hour or two, and reflect on how you feel about this past year.
End of the year reflections
1. How do you feel overall about this past year?
Pick the first words that come to mind and reflect on those. Why are they relevant to you? If you had to rate the past year on a scale of 1-10, 1 being not good and 10 being a great year, where does your year fall? The more you reflect on these feelings, the more in touch you will get with yourself.
2. What advice would you give yourself at the beginning of the year?
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself over the past 12 months? We are often overly determined and set unrealistic expectations or we don’t challenge ourselves enough. These tendencies often lean to one side or the other. Reflect on which you identify with and think about ways to adjust for this in the upcoming year.
3. What was the most memorable part of your year and why?
Remember, memorable parts of your year don’t necessarily have to be only positive or only negative. Give yourself time to reflect on this and see what specific things come to mind. Sometimes the most memorable parts of the year aren’t planned for or expected. As you reflect on this question, you may even find yourself remembering things you had forgotten about.
4. What are you most proud of?
Your answer doesn’t have to be achievement oriented, production based, or anything overly complicated. What you are truly proud of may really surprise you. Take a moment to give yourself praise for the things you’re proud of, too. Oftentimes the very simple accomplishments in life are some of the most profound ones.
5. What was the biggest lesson you learned this past year?
How will this lesson impact you moving forward? Why was it the biggest lesson in your life? When you reflect on this question, you may realize that lessons learned now didn’t seem like learning opportunities in the moment.
6. What were your priorities this year? Review your planner and assess. Are you happy with how you spent your time?
Remember the importance of how you spend your time. If someone picked up your planner, would they know what your priorities are? While not everything needs to be written down, when you make time for your priorities and schedule them into your life, you can better match your intentions to your actions.
7. How have you changed/evolved/grown this year?
It’s important to acknowledge that we are rarely staying the same. Whether for good or bad, change is always happening and it’s important to acknowledge what direction you are progressing towards.
8. What or who are you especially grateful for?
Gratitude is the base of all great experiences, and it’s good to reflect on this as many of us don’t often enough. Who has been there for you, supported you, and challenged you this year? As you identify these people in your life, consider how you can share your gratitude with them or let them know their influence on your life. In addition to people you are grateful for, consider other aspects of your life where you find gratitude.
9. What roadblocks, obstacles, or disappointments did you encounter?
Challenges are bound to happen; we set goals and hiccups arise. From illness and unexpected scenarios to general shifts in life, maybe things didn’t turn out how you expected. It’s more important to understand how to adapt when things happen instead of just avoiding them. Challenges will always come up. How can you better handle them?
10. What unexpected opportunities presented themselves?
We don’t always see opportunities as opportunities. While some roadblocks or obstacles appear to be challenging and negative, sometimes they are blessings in retrospect. Even when you don’t have a clear picture of the next step in your life, if you notice opportunities, you should make it a habit to be grateful for those.
Actively looking for opportunities is a wonderful habit to cultivate. Get in the mindset of being open to change and what could be next.
Reflect on the past year and plan ahead for what’s next
As you answered each of these questions, I hope you discovered new perspectives and outlooks on your life. With this year all but behind us, take time this season to slow down and simply be. Enjoy the days before jumping into the new year and all that lies ahead.
When the new year does roll around, keep your eyes open for part two of this reflection exercise with suggestions to take into your new year.
Holly Mann
Holly Mann
Personal Success Coach
Founder of Fresh Habits: freshhabits.net
I am on a mission to facilitate meaningful conversations that encourage individuals to upgrade and expand their habits and routines which will ultimately allow them to live life at their fullest potential!
