The year 2019 is approaching. If you’ve New Year Activity: Reflection on 2018, you know why it’s important to take stock of your life and prepare for the next year.
I honestly believe that holidays, and time off in general, can help charge our batteries and help us gain perspective. I think we all should write goals when we are on vacation, or right when we come back, because we are usually wiser then.
Not everyone can take a long vacation, so here is a list that will help you gain perspective even if you can’t get a lot of time off.
Your 2018 in detail
Ask yourself the questions on the list below for a detailed reflection on the ending year in preparation for the year to come and have a great 2019!
- What was your greatest achievement last year?
- What do you think contributed to this achievement?
- Write some of your minor achievements from last year
- List 10 things you are grateful for that happened in the past year
- List 10 things you learned during 2018
- Name 3 people who contributed to your happiness/success
- Write about 3 significant positive events in the past year
- Write about 3 beliefs that helped you get through 2018
- In what way did you grow during last year?
- How did you express love towards the people you care about in 2018?
- How loved did you feel in the last year (as a percentage)?
- Who did you help to grow and evolve in a positive way last year?
- How did you contribute your time/skills to others in the last year?
- What did you get in return for this contribution of time/skills?
- What did you do last year to make the world a better place?
- Which of last year’s goals came true? If you don’t remember them, make sure you write this year’s goal somewhere, so you’ll be able to find them next year for your reflection
- What did you do last year that falls into the category of self-care?
- How well did you express yourself last year?
- What goals for the last year did not come true?
- Why? Write down the reason(s) for each goal
- How many of your reasons for not fulfilling your goals involve blaming someone else or justifying (blaming circumstances)?
- What was your biggest failure/disappointment last year?
- What were your biggest worries in 2018?
- Did they come true?
- Did worrying about them change their outcome?
- What caused you the most pain last year?
- Name 3 people who contributed to your unhappiness in the past year
- What happened that made you think that?
- Did they do what they did on purpose?
- Could they do things differently? If so, how?
- Do you think they are aware of your thoughts and feelings about them?
- Will it help to share your thoughts and feelings with them?
- Is it possible to change your relationships with those people in the next year? If so, how?
- What will your life be like if you keep your feelings towards those people to yourself?
- Who will you be if you forgive those people for what they have (or haven’t) done?
- Who do you need to forgive?
- What will your life be if you forgive those people?
- Write about 3 significant negative events from last year
- Write 10 things you regret from last year
- How could you do each of these things differently?
- Which 3 beliefs did not contribute to your life in the past year?
- What percentage of last year were you sad, upset, disappointed or angry?
- Which event(s) from the past year will you share with your grandchildren when you get older?
Go back to your ratings from the previous post and ask yourself “What can I do now, that is within my control, to improve my rating at least by 1?” If you’ve rated your physical health as 7, what can you do now to make it an 8 next year? If your rating was 2, what can you do to make it a 3 next year?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my emotional health rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my social rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up the rating of my relationship with parents and siblings up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up the rating of my relationship with my partner/spouse up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my immediate family (partner and children) rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my work rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my money rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my time management rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my personal development rating up by 1 point?
- What can I do now, that is within my control, that will bring up my spirituality rating up by 1 point?
- Take your answers and turn them into goals
- Take the goals and turn them into a list of things you can do to achieve your new goals
- Schedule some of the actions on your list in your calendar. For example, if you think you can improve your emotional health by meditating, schedule a meditation course and/or some time for meditation every day
- What would you like to achieve next year (that is not in your previous answers)?
- Why do you want to achieve these things?
- What can you do to make them happen?
- What is standing between you and these achievements?
- What do you need to give up in order to achieve these things?
- How can you motivate yourself into achieving them?
- Who is in your life already that will help you achieve your goals?
- Who do you need to bring into your life that will help you achieve your goals?
- Write 3 beliefs that would improve your life significantly if you had them
- In what way(s) do you need to care for yourself?
- How well did you do it last year?
- How would you like to improve it for next year?
- Make a list of 100 things that make you happy
- Make a list of self-care ideas and schedule them on your calendar
- Schedule some of the items on your Happy List in your calendar to improve your self-care and happiness
- How can you express your love for people you care about next year?
- How can you contribute your time/skills to others in next year?
- What can you do next year to make the world a better place? Schedule these things in your calendar
- What brave thing can you do next year that will improve the way you think about yourself?
- What are the good things in your life that you are grateful for, appreciate, are happy about and want to keep having next year?
- What habits do you have that did not serve you in 2018 that you want to change next year?
- In what way do those habits not serve you?
- What will you gain from changing them?
- What will your life be like in 5 years if you don’t change them?
- How can you change them?
- What might be your challenges in changing them?
- How can you overcome those challenges?
- Write 3 things you want to learn next year. They can be small, like learning to play chess, juggling, harmonica, cooking a special disk, etc.
- How can you express yourself even more next year?
Send this list to your loved-ones so they can benefit from it as well. I find that even children can gain and learn from asking these questions and making these lists.
This is my last post for 2018.
If you are not already registered to receive my posts by email, sign up now and you can read them as soon as they are published.
See you next year with charged batteries.
Happy new year to you!
Ronit
