15 End Of Year Reflection Questions

Use these end of year reflection questions to review your year in various areas of your life; whether it’s career, relationships, finances, personal growth, work-life balance, productivity, and so on.

Why reflect on the past year?

I don’t know about you, but my year feels like a whirlwind. I literally can’t remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday never mind reflecting on the important parts of my year. 

This is why taking time to reflect on what’s happened with the below questions is really important so you can…

• Take note of your wins and give yourself a pat on the back for how hard you worked
• Learn from your mistakes and how you’d approach situations differently
• Reflect on your overall journey
• Experience gratitude in your life

Reflecting on your key experiences and events throughout the year also gives you a perspective on how you might want to move forward in the year ahead.

15 Reflection Questions To Review Your Year

1. How would you describe your year?

What comes to mind for you? Did you feel it was a good year? A difficult year? A non-eventful year? Was there a recurring theme? 

2. How did you show up differently this year?

Were you more focused on gratitude, did you create a new habit? Perhaps you tried some new ways to be productive at work?

If you didn’t show up differently (and that is completely okay), think about how you might like to try some new approaches as you go into the new year.

3. What are your significant wins for the year?

List anything you are proud of accomplishing. This could be anything from…

• Reading a book a month
• Getting a new job
• Sticking with your workout routine
• Supporting yourself with therapy
• Eating a healthy breakfast every day
• Saving money or paying down debt
• Mastering weekly meal planning
• Finishing a course

4. Looking at your wins, what skill or tactic did you use to be successful?

Were you able to create a better work-life balance by sticking with your schedule?

Did perseverance help you make things happen?

5. What didn’t go well this year?

Think of things that didn’t go to plan or you were hoping for a different outcome.

When you write this list, don’t be hard on yourself (none of us are perfect).

Even when things don’t go the way you’d like, you can always learn from these situations – which leads us to the next question…

6. When you look at what didn’t go well, what lessons did you learn?

Learning how you coped, strategized or moved through a tough situation helps you grow as an individual. It also provides you with insight into some changes you may want to look into in the year ahead.

You might have learned that you’re really good at some things and not so great at others, or you may feel happier in certain situations.

This information is can help you tweak future habits and set you up for future success – whether it’s professional or personal.

7. Thinking about your key lessons learned, how would you approach similar situations moving forward? 

Would you do anything differently?

9. How did you grow as a person this year?

Think back to the beginning of this year. How have you changed for the better?

10. Did you create any new routines this year? 

If yes how has this benefited you? If not, are there any new routines you’d like to introduce for the year ahead?

11. Is there anything you wish you had accomplished this year?

How can you make this happen next year? List key steps to achieve this goal.

13. What are you most grateful for in the past year?

Think about various areas of your life…

• Relationships
• Work
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Finances
• Personal growth

14. What new skills did you learn or improve on this year?

These skills can encompass all areas of life. I’ll share with you a few skills I’ve learned or gotten better with to give you some ideas…

• Sticking to a regular weekly schedule for publishing articles
• Growing my web design skills by learning more about page builders such as Elementor
• Improving my weekly meal planning by batch cooking on a Sunday
• Completing my to-do list every week

15. What challenges did you overcome this year?

Let’s face it – life can be really hard sometimes. So many challenges can come up during the year…

• Job loss
• End of a relationship
• Loss of a loved one
• Declining mental health
• Serious health challenges

We all go through these things.

Sometimes it takes a long time to overcome our challenges and sometimes it’s a little easier – but one thing is for sure… we can pat ourselves on the back for doing our best to be strong.

Take some time to reflect on these challenges and celebrate how you’re moving forward, even if it’s just one small step at a time.

Tips for end of year reflection

1. Be Kind To Yourself

No matter how your year went, remember that with the new year comes new beginnings, so be kind to yourself. 

2. Focus on what you’ve accomplished

You might have accomplished a heck of a lot but still feel you could have done more, so instead of focusing on what didn’t happen, look at what you have accomplished this year.

3. Don’t Hold Back – Write Anything and Everything 

As you answer each question, write about everything that comes to mind for you.

Depending on the question you might answer it in a couple of sentences or write an entire page. Don’t hold yourself back from all thoughts that come to mind.

You can always read each answer back afterward and even highlight the most important things that come up for you.

Have you used end of year reflection questions before?

What’s your experience with them? Share in the comments below…

Also, for more inspiration in the new year, check out: 100 New Year Affirmations for Happiness & Success

Related reflection questions and writing prompts:

• 30 New Year Journal Prompts for Reflection & Goal Setting
• 60 Self-Reflection Questions & Journal Prompts
• 30 Self Love Journal Prompts To Boost Self-Esteem
• 52 Gratitude Journal Prompts To Increase Happiness

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