The New Year’s song Auld Lang Syne asks, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?” In other words, just because we’re moving on into a new year, should we leave behind everything this past year brought us?
The answer, of course, is no!
As you move from 2023 into 2024, it’s important to reflect on the important things that the last year brought you, in order to grow and expand your life, become a better person, and continue to learn. Because if we’re not on this earth to learn and have new experiences, what are we here for?
This article includes 100 end of year reflection questions to help you expand upon last year, think about a New Year’s resolution, and move forward into 2024 in a positive way.
Why Is Reflection Important?
Reflecting helps you to develop your skills and review their effectiveness, rather than just carry on doing things as you have always done them. It is about questioning, in a positive way, what you do and why you do it and then deciding whether there is a better, or more efficient, way of doing it in the future.
I could not agree with this definition more. Reflection is about assessing what’s working well so you can continue doing those things, as well as what’s not working, so you can align your values and actions to create the best possible possibilities for the future.
RELATED POST: 6 Alternatives to New Year’s Resolutions in 2024
100 End of Year Reflection Questions
I have broken these end-of-year questions into categories of life. I personally like using the categories in the Level 10 Life. Those categories are:
- Relationship
- Personal Development
- Family & Friends
- Giving & Contributing
- Health & Fitness
- Finances
- Career / Business
- Recreation / Fun
- Physical Environment
- Faith / Spirituality
(If you’re interested, here’s a download you can use to assess your life in these ten categories! You don’t even need to subscribe! Just click the link!)
10 Personal Development Questions
When it comes to knowing yourself, learning, and achieving your own personal goals, these questions will help you get there.
- What were my biggest accomplishments this year?
- What did I learn about myself, and in what ways did I develop new self-awareness this year?
- What were my values this past year? Do I feel that the actions I took aligned with my values?
- What new skills did I learn this year?
- Did I meet the goals I set out to accomplish this year? Why or why not?
- What were the biggest challenges I faced this year? Was I able to overcome them?
- Looking back on last year, what advice would I give myself if I was starting the year over again?
- In what ways can I be more mindful or intentional in my life?
- What routines or actions were most helpful in learning about myself and achieving my goals?
- Did I waste my time on anything this year? What things can I cut out of my life to focus more on the important things?
RELATED POST: 10 Books that Changed My Life
10 Family & Friends Questions
These end of year reflection questions are all about your family and friends, social relationships.
- Who were the most important people in my life this year?
- Who were the most challenging people in my life this year?
- Did I spend enough time on social self-care, doing fun things with my friends?
- What were my favorite activities that I did with my friends and family this past year? And how can I incorporate more of those things into this year?
- In what ways have I shown up for my family members and friends this year?
- How have I added to a healthy family dynamic?
- Is there any family drama or friend drama that happened this year?
- How can I make sure that I’m being helpful and objective when working through challenges with my friends and family?
- What do my current boundaries with family and friends look like? Are they healthy?
- How can I be a better friend, mother, daughter, wife, in the coming year?
10 Giving & Contributing Questions
Giving and contributing refers to what you give to the world. That can be all kinds of different things and ways, but think about volunteering, donating to charity, helping friends, helping the needy, teaching kids, spending time with the elderly, etc.
- What ways did I give to my community this past year?
- Who do I like giving to or working with to better my community?
- What kind of resources do I have that might benefit others?
- When was the last time I donated to charity?
- What kinds of events or resources would I like to see in my community?
- What kinds of skills do I have that could benefit others?
- When was the last time I volunteered for anything? (Kids’ school, community events)
- What do I receive in return when I volunteer my time or donate money?
- Is my contribution to my community a positive one?
- How do others rely on me?
RELATED POST: Fresh Energy Practices for the New Year
10 Relationship Questions
These questions relate to your primary relationship, but if you’re self-partnered right now, don’t worry, just answer them about yourself!
- Did I feel satisfied with my current relationship this past year?
- Am I putting regular effort and time into making this relationship the best it can be?
- What events in the last year made me feel loved and accepted? And in what ways was I able to show my love and support to my partner this year?
- What did I learn about my partner this year?
- Did I communicate with my partner this year? In what ways can I learn to communicate better?
- Did I regularly express my gratitude to my partner last year? And how can I more regularly express my gratitude moving into the new year?
- Did my partner meet my emotional needs this year? Intimacy needs? How can I communicate those needs to them in the coming year?
- Did I meet my partner’s needs this year? In what ways can I do a better job to meet my partner’s needs in the coming year?
- What fun things did my partner and I do together last year that I would like to do more of?
- Did my partner and I align with our intentions for the future? In what ways can we envision our future together in the coming year?
10 Health & Fitness Questions
When it comes to your health, you should take these end of year reflection questions seriously!
- What are the ways I have practiced self-care this past year, and how did they work for me?
- Did I eat generally healthy this past year? Do I think my nutrition contributed to my overall wellness?
- Did I exercise well this past year? Do I think my fitness contributed to my overall wellness?
- What were my favorite healthy activities this year?
- How can I incorporate more healthy activities into this new year?
- How did I view my body this year? Do I need to embrace body positivity (or neutrality) more?
- What are my favorite nutritious foods? How can I incorporate these into my meals in the new year?
- Do I like to exercise alone or with others? How can I make more plans for this next year?
- Do I have a support system with my family or community of friends that helps or hinders my health goals?
- Do I have a good system for monitoring my health goals and habits, or do I need one for the future?
RELATED POST: 6 Ways Good Health and Success Are Connected
If you’re liking these end of year reflection questions, be sure to check out all our collection of New Year’s posts here:
10 Finances Questions
No one really likes taking a deep look at their finances (I certainly don’t), but your financial health is just as important as your body’s health. These financial end of year reflection questions will help you get to a better place with your money next year.
- What were my financial goals this year? Did I meet my goals?
- What were some resources (books, apps, budgets) that helped me this year? What kinds of financial resources did I try that didn’t work for me?
- Did I have a healthy relationship with money this year?
- How did my beliefs about money impact my spending and saving habits this year?
- Did I save for the future this year?
- What kinds of investments do I have and how did they grow or diminish this year?
- What steps did I take toward my retirement this year?
- What did I learn about money, finances, budgeting, or investing this year? What kinds of things would I like to learn about next year?
- How are my money habits impacting my partner or family? How are my family’s money habits impacting me?
- What financial goals do I want to set as I look toward next year?
10 Career / Business Questions
A career is often what people spend most of their time growing. Let’s take a look at what kinds of professional growth you’ve seen this year with these reflection questions:
- Was I satisfied with my career or professional life this year? Did it align with my values and desires for my life?
- What professional development activities did I participate in this year? Which were my favorites? Which did I like the least? Why?
- Did I feel valued and appreciated at my place of employment this year? Why or why not?
- Was my work-life balance satisfying this year?
- What are some things I can do in the future to find a better balance?
- Did I take calculated risks and challenging myself with my business or career to put myself out there?
- Do I see myself climbing further in my career, or do I like where I am now?
- What goals did I set for myself in my career this past year? Did I achieve those goals?
- How can I better align my actions in my career to the goals I want to accomplish?
- Did I have the kind of passion and enjoyment out of my career this past year that I want to have?
10 Recreation / Fun Questions
Yes, recreation is important! Many people forget to look at whether or not they had fun last year when they’re reflecting, but pleasure and enjoyment should be celebrated!
- What kinds of fun activities did I participate in this year?
- Do I like the amount of recreation I participate in? Could I do more? Or do I need to focus more on my goals?
- Who were my favorite people to do fun things with this past year?
- What kinds of recreation activities are on my bucket list? Which bucket list items could I easily do next year?
- Did I spend adequate time outside this year? Do I need more time in nature, or is this a healthy balance?
- Did I travel this year? Where did I go?
- What travel activities worked well? What didn’t work well?
- What are my favorite ways to travel? What are some places I would like to go this year?
- Did I do the same kind of recreation over again throughout the year? Or did I do a variety of things?
- What new recreation activities did I try this year? Did I like them, or were they one-and-done?
10 Physical Environment Questions
These end of year reflection questions are all about your environment: your home, your office, your bedroom, the city you live in, etc.
- Did my environment serve my physical needs this year? How could I move things (or move homes) to meet my physical needs in terms of space, mobility, or cleanliness?
- Did my environment serve my emotional needs this year? What things could help me feel good about spending time in my environment?
- Do I make an active effort to declutter and keep my space clean? Am I satisfied with the level of cleanliness in my home?
- What kinds of organization in my home would help improve my quality of life?
- What kind of time allotment did I have this year to dedicate to improving my enviroment?
- Did I have the kind of resources (financial or otherwise) that I need to make my environment align with my life?
- Does my bedroom set up allow for healthy sleep? Regular sex?
- Did my outdoor space meet my needs this year? Shade? Garden? Outdoor eating space?
- Did I turn off my devices early enough to avoid blue light exposure close to bedtime? Does my home’s set up help or hinder this?
- Did the city I lived in this year align with my needs and values?
10 Faith / Spirituality Questions
When you’re reflecting on this questions about spirituality, you should know that no matter what you believe, there is a spiritual aspect to your life! I use the terms Spirit, God, and The Universe interchangeably.
- In what ways did I connect with a higher power or those around me here on earth this year?
- Was my spiritual life satisfying to me this year or do I need to do more in terms of my faith?
- Whether through nature, meditation, prayer, worship, or other means, how did I connect with my spirituality this year?
- Did my spiritual practices this year help me contribute to a sense of inner peace? Are there other practices I believe may help boost that sense of peace?
- Did my spirituality help me during challenging times this year?
- Did I express compassion, understanding, love, forgiveness, and acceptance toward others this year?
- How did my faith help me connect with others and all of life on earth this year?
- Did I have a spiritual community that I participate in this year? Was it satisfying?
- Did I experience any significant spiritual awakenings this year?
- What kinds of spiritual experiences would I like to have in the next year?
RELATED POST: 16 Books on Spiritual Enlightenment to Read in 2024
Conclusion
Sure there are a few things I didn’t even get to here, like how many books you read this year, or how you expressed your feminine or masculine energies. There is so much to consider when you’re reflecting on the previous year. But these questions can really help you discover what kinds of things you might want to focus on for next year.
Be sure to check out all our New Year’s resolutions (and alternatives, like a new year’s vision board) when you’re ready to start planning for next year!
Drop me a comment below: did these questions help you?!
I love hearing from you! Happy New Year!
