As someone who absolutely loves a bit of navel gazing, at the end of every year I like to do a check-in about what that year has taught me and what I want for the next year.
I usually team up with my best friend, because then we can take it seriously and also have a good ol’ chat about these questions as well, and get some inspiration from each other.
You can do that in person, over the phone, over Zoom, or if you want to go solo, write it down in a journal instead, or email your answers through to yourself.
In a hard year, it can be really easy to write the whole damn year off but you miss out on the nuances and the individual challenges/joys that you, yourself, experienced.
It’s a good activity to do as we approach the new year, because learning from the past will give you more of an informed idea of what you need for the next one.
My biggest bit of advice would be to be totally honest and totally loving to yourself when you answer these questions, if we waste time waiting for our ‘perfect’ future selves to arrive, we can miss a lot of opportunity in the meantime.
- How has your definition of success changed this year?
- What were you able to take away from your daily routine, and did you miss it?
- What were you able to add to your daily routine, and how did it help?
- What are you proudest of from the past year?
- What are some simple things that added joy to your day or week?
- What was the most challenging part of 2022?
- What was an unexpected challenge of 2022?
- Pick three words to describe 2022
- Pick three words you would like to focus on for 2023
- In Te Ao Māori, they often use the hauora concept to describe overall wellbeing: looking at the four walls of the whare (your wellbeing), which are whānau health, spiritual health, physical health and emotional health. What tools have you learned that help you in these four aspects of your life?
- What book, movie or album meant the most to you this year?
- What have been your most important relationships this year and how can you let them know what they meant to you?
- What has been the biggest time waster for you this year – and how can you reduce the impact it has on your life, moving forward?
- What are the three things you love the most about yourself? How can you take care of the parts of yourself that need more love?
- What does a dream day look like for you?
- Did you get enough alone time this year? Did you get too much?
- Did you prioritise your own health enough this year (that’s mental health, just as much as physical)?
- Who brings you the most joy in your life?
- Who brings you the least?
- What is your biggest, boldest dream? What are the first steps you start taking to make it happen next year?
