IMPORTANT: Scroll way down to see the full list of questions to reflect on your past year. Good luck and happy reflecting 🙂
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
We can’t look into the future. The only thing we can do is plan and do the work, but plans don’t work out as planned most of the time. This is not a bad thing; it’s just a fact of life.
Another fact of life is that our past is set. We can not change our past no matter how old or skilled you are. Since our pasts are set, we can learn from our past. Like an old history book, our own past is filled with facts, flaws, emotions and experiences (good and bad).
I believe that we can analyse these experiences. We can learn from our experiences if we ask ourself good questions. This way, we uncover insights and lessons from our own past that can help us in the future.
Some people don’t think we can learn from the past. These people think that the past is the literal past and that we should look ahead. I think those people are afraid of what they might find. Once your yearly reflection becomes a habit that you do every year, your lessons and insights from your own past will act as a searchlight when looking into the darkness that is your own future.
Long story long, that is why I’m from the movement that believes that looking back can help you go forward more determined, wiser and happier. Only when you reflect will you be able to become a better version of yourself.
“Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”
― Gautama Buddha
Just like a snake has a biological process to shed its skin and literally become a new version of itself, we need a structured process ourselves to always force ourselves to become a better version of ourself.
The Notion app helps me out with that structure. I’ve created a Notion template that helps me with my yearly Re-flection routine. I wrote RE-flection routine because I have three routines that I do around the end and the beginning of a new year. First, I do a Re-flection at the end of the year, and I do a Pre-flection at the beginning of the year.
A Pre-flection is similar to a reflection in many ways, but it focusses more on looking to the future, planning and goal setting. In another article, I’ll go more into my Pre-flection routine. And thirdly, after I’ve finished my Re- and Pre-flections I’ll do a financial reflection. I think finances is an important topic in its own that is why I grant it so much of my time. This is also for another post.
The yearly Re-flection is based on a set of questions. It’s like a list of 100+ questions that trigger me to think about last year in different ways.
I’ve collected 95% of these questions from the internet.
The list is categorized. Below is a list of of the categories plus a photo of what these questions look like:
- The Essential 12
- (I view these as the 12 most essential questions to understand my last year. For you, these “most essential questions” can be totally different. This selection is highly personal and tailored to your personal goals, and focus area’s in your life)
- On My Health
- On My Emotions
- On My Daily Life
- On the Experiences I had
- On My Relationships
- On My Business and My Career
- On My Finances
- Some lighthearted questions to top it off
By now you might be thinking: “holy moly 100+ questions to go through?!! Who has the time to do all that???!” And you’re correct.
100+ is a lot, but there is a method to the madness. (Also, this is only my Re-flection, after this comes to my Pre-flection (more planning) and finally a financial reflection. Yes, I take personal improvement pretty seriously:)
Habit building is hard, and especially when you’re building a new habit.
I did not start with the focus to go through 100+ questions at the end of the year. If you had asked me in 2016, I would have laughed at you.
To build a successful habit like a yearly reflection, you need to start small and get the ball rolling. It would help if you felt the first wins from doing the smallest and simple version of the new habit you want to cultivate.
I started with the essential 12 questions, as seen above (see photo above). These are the most important questions that I really want to go through. I started my yearly reflection by only completing those 12 questions. That was it for two years. It was fine, and it felt good. I was reflecting, and it had some big impacts on my personal life and career.
After two years I wanted to up my game, and I wanted to put even a little more effort in it so last year (2019) I decided to expand the list with even more questions that I found on the ether. So to give some context, I have only made the 100+ list once. But trust me, it did not disappoint. I can, hands down, say that last year was one of my most impactful years ever in my life: I’ve written more than I did in the former years, I’ve uploaded a few video’s to Youtube, I asked my wife to marry me, I saved more money than ever before, my business grew faster, and finally my mental health has improved tenfold, from feeling like shit at the end of 2018 up until now where I feel like I’m on top of the world.
I’m not saying that the yearly reflection is the only reason for my “personal” successes this year, but I am saying that it had a large impact.
Enough with the me-talk, learn from my mistakes: I started way too late.
If you are bad-ass and you’re going for the entire list of 100+ questions, I would advise you to start your yearly Re-flection at the beginning of December. Last year I started around new years. That is not the best time to start thinking about the past; too many things are going on during that time. So start at the beginning of December. This will give you ample time to go through all the questions.
But for some of you, the list will be way too long. I would advise you to scan through all of the questions without filling them in and see which ones resonate with you and fill those in. That is good enough for the first time. Especially when you’re starting with reflecting, you don’t want to give yourself more anxiety than you already have. These routines and hacks should work for you, not against you.
Use this hack to get the most out of your yearly reflections:
You’ve filled in these questions, what now? You’ve collected a lot of thoughts, and that’s great, but we really want to learn from them, and we really want to get the most juice of the insights and thoughts that you’ve written down.
I believe 80% of the positive effect happen when you sit down and do your yearly reflections, but I believe we can squeeze even more power out of your thoughts.
I do this using the https://www.futureme.org/ website. This is probably one of the best inventions I’ve come across in recent years.
It is a way to send yourself an email in the future. You can write anything that you want, and trust me; it’s an absolute joy to get an email from yourself in the future. It feels a little magical.
I use this tool to send myself some answers to the questions that I’ve answered during my reflection. Pick the “send my email 1 year later” option and submit some of your reflections. The email you have sent will hit you like a ton of bricks.
Take, for example, the question: What negative daily habits did you break this year?
When you read the answer a year later, it will be a great reminder that you shed a bad part of your human skin or it will be a punch in the fact that you were on a good track, but the bad habit has returned.
I quit smoking for 234 days now. In my last reflection, this was my personal answer. Suppose I get my email and see that I’m still doing good, that gives me extra motivation. It’s okay to be proud of yourself.
So check out the questions below and hopefully you’ll get the same value out of these questions yourself.
To sum it up:
- Reflecting and looking back can help you go forward more determined, wiser and happier;
- Make your yearly reflection a habit that sticks by starting this year small, with only a hand full of questions;
- Move to the bigger list and take your time after you’ve nestled your reflecting habit;
- Make it stick by reflecting on your reflections using a service that can send you your insights later in the year.
Now go out there and good luck to you with your reflections.
And remember, to make a great life, you’ll have to work for it.
The Yearly Re-flection questions to grant you insights on last year:
The Essential 12
- What strong feeling come up when you think of last year?
- What really sums up your year, describe it in 5 (unrelated) words?
- How have I been radically open-minded?
- Did your life stay the same last year, or did it change in a significant way? If so, how did it change?
- What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren’s grandchildren about?
- What were your “ah-ha/bingo/no way” moments?
- What advice would you give your younger self if you could?
- Did any parts of your self or your life do a complete 180 this year?
- Did you set any goals for last year and did you achieve them? How did you achieve your goals? If you didn’t, what went wrong?
- My most common mental state this year was:
- How have I been transparent?
- What did I do, learn, create, accomplish or experience this year that I am really really proud of?
On My Health
- What was your typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner like?
- Did you exercise or move your body every day?
- How did you practice self-care?
- Did you take care of your mental health, and if so, how did you do so?
- How did you relax and rest?
- How much “me time” or alone-time did you spend?
- What stressed you out the most or gave you major anxiety?
- How did you relieve or release daily stress?
- What mistakes did I make that thought me something?
- What lessons did I learn that I can leverage?
- NEXT YEAR: how can I make healthier choices for my mind and body in 2019
On My Emotions
- What did you complain about the most?
- What new things did you discover about myself?
- Who or what challenged your worldview or your faith?
- Were you ever “triggered”? By whom or what?
- What were you most afraid of happening?
- Do you have a favourite memory?
- Is there a memory that you can’t stop replaying your mind?
- What was your biggest disappointment?
- What if anything, worried you and kept you up at night
- Here’s how I grew emotionally this year:
- Here’s how I grew spiritually this year:
- What am I willing to let go off?
- What are the projects, the goals and the commitments that have been hanging around your to-do list and you need to let go off?
- What resentments, what angers are you willing to let go off?
- What stories are you telling yourself that no longer serve you?
- Which worries turned out to be completely unnecessary?
- How can I be kind to myself?
On My Daily Life
- What did you want to do, but didn’t?
- Which of your personal qualities turned out to be the most helpful this year?
- What did you want to do, but didn’t?
- Did you step outside your comfort zone? When?
- Do you feel as if you missed out on any opportunities?
- What was your daily, morning or nightly routine?
- How did you waste the most time every day?
- What negative daily habit did you break?
- Did you create any new habits?
- What do you wish you could do more every day?
- Is there was one thing you could stop doing, what would it be?
- Does anything feel incomplete or left undone from last year?
- What little things did you most enjoy during your day-to-day life?
- What activities made you lose track of time?
- What did you think about more than anything else?
- When did you feel most creative?
- Where am I feeling stuck?
On the Experiences I had
- Where’s the best new location you visited?
- What’s the most exciting new thing you tried?
- What did you plan to do, but never did?
- Have your tastes or interests change this past year?
- Do you feel guilty about anything you did?
- What were the three most important lessons you learnt in the last year?
- What book or movie profoundly affected your life?
- This is the best thing/investment in myself I bought all year:
- One time I stood up for myself this year was:
- The scariest thing I went through this year was:
- The best gift I received this year was:
- If I could change one thing about this year, it would be?
- What mistakes did I make that thought me something?
- What had the biggest positive impact on your life this year?
- What do you deserve a pat on the back for?
- What topics did you most enjoy learning about?
On My Relationships
- Who did you spend the most time with?
- Who are the top 3-4 most influential people in your life?
- What 5 people did you most enjoy spending time with?
- Did you have a go-person? Someone you can always count on?
- What, or who, are you most thankful for?
- Did you have a falling out with anyone?
- Which relationships feel apart, which came alive?
- Was anyone toxic or destructive to you?
- How did you give back or contribute to your community?
- How much time did you spend with your family or loved ones?
- How did your relationship with your family evolve?
- Who supported you and helped you grow the most?
- Here’s something I learned about other people:
- How can I improve my relationships?
On My Business and My Career
- Are you happy with your job/school?
- Did you enjoy the work/learning you do?
- Were you excited to go to work or school every day?
- Did you get a promotion or raise/graduate or pass your courses?
- What one thing would you change about your job/education?
- How did you advance your career last year?
- Is your job/school fulfilling you?
- Are there opportunities for advancement?
- Did you start or take on a new venture (side-hustle, part-time so on)?
- When did you feel most creative?
- How can I become a better entrepreneur?
On My Finances
- Did you pay off existing debts (credit card, school or otherwise)?
- How much money did you save?
- Did you create a budget for last year and stick to it?
- What was your annual income for last year?
- Were you living paycheck to paycheck?
- Did you take out new loans (including mortgages and car payments)?
- What did you waste too much money on?
- Did you have a best find or purchase from last year?
- Do you have a retirement savings plan? Did you contribute to it?
- Did you put money towards an emergency fund?
Some lighthearted questions to top it off
- When you say ‘last year’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
- Is your favourite colour still the same this year as last year?
- What’s the most shocking news you received?
- What new skills did you develop or discover?
- Did you have a favourite quote or saying?
- What’s your favourite song, movie, book and or TV show from last year?
- What was the best compliment you received?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank your year?
- What three words best describe last year?
- If you wrote about last year, what would it be titled?
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