As the year winds down, the latter half of December is the perfect time to reflect and look back on everything you have experienced, discovered and accomplished during the past 12 months.
A yearly review is also a great exercise in mindfulness and conscious living. It’s a way to slow down, reminisce about your favorite moments, make you sure you take the time to appreciate all the little and big things that were a part of your life in the past year, and also to draw some conclusions about which kinds of things make you happy and which don’t.
If you already have ideas for new year’s goals or things you want to achieve in 2018, reflecting back on the past year will help ensure your goals are truly in line with your priorities and values. If possible, try to do your yearly review at least a few days before you sit down to set your goals and intentions for the new year. Let everything percolate a bit.
Following, you’ll find 20 questions you can use as prompts to reflect on different aspects of your year. Write your answers down, think them through in your head, or talk them over with a friend or your significant other. The remaining 10 questions will inspire you to think about 2018.
2017 – Review, Reflect, Appreciate
- If you had to describe your 2017 in three words, what would they be?
- What new things did you discover about yourself?
- Which of your personal qualities turned out to be the most helpful this year?
- What was the most important lesson or skill you learned in 2017?
- Which mental block(s) did you overcome?
- What book or movie affected your life in a profound way?
- What little things did you most appreciate during your day-to-day life?
- What cool things did you create this year?
- Was there anything you did for the very first time in your life this year?
- What major goal did you lay the foundation for?
- Which worries turned out to be completely unnecessary?
- What experience would you love to do all over again?
- How did your overall outlook on life evolve?
- What was the biggest problem you solved?
- What one thing would you do differently and why?
- What did you think about more than anything else?
- What topics did you most enjoy learning about?
- What new habits did you cultivate?
- What advice would you give your early-2017 self if you could?
- Did any parts of your self or your life do a complete 180 this year?
2018 – Looking Forward
- What do you want the overarching theme for your 2018 to be?
- What do you want to see, discover, explore?
- Who do you want to spend more time with in 2018?
- What skills do you want to learn, improve or master?
- Which personal quality do you want to develop or strengthen?
- What do you want your everyday life to be like?
- Which habits do you want to change, cultivate or get rid of?
- What do you want to achieve career-wise?
- How do you want to remember the year 2018 when you look back on it 5/10/20 years from now?
- What is your number one goal for 2018?
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