35 questions I ask myself every year

I’m big on reflection.

I’m not always perfect at it. Some days, my “reflection” is just jotting down a few bullet points about what happened, or uploading a quick photo to Day One.

But I make it a habit to pause and reflect on my weeks and months as consistently as I can.

And every time I do, I think to myself, “What the hell was I doing going through life without this?”

Because here’s the truth:

We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.

John Dewey

As 2024 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time for a deeper look back. Here are 35 questions I ask myself every year:

1. What was the most memorable moment this year?
2. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
3. What’s a memory from this year that still makes you smile?
4. What was your biggest achievement?
5. What was the most challenging part of the year, and how did you grow from it?
6. What’s something new you discovered about yourself?
7. What one thing would have made your year 10x more pleasant?
8. Who made the biggest impact on your life this year?
9. Who did you grow closer to?
10. What’s one way you showed love or support to someone else?
11. What conversation or moment with someone stands out the most?
12. Who did you miss the most this year?
13. Who was the best new person you met?
14. Did you fall in love this year?
15. How did you take care of your physical health this year?
16. What’s one thing that brought you emotional peace this year?
17. How did you connect with your spiritual side?
18. What gave you the most energy or inspiration this year?
19. What drained you the most?
20. What cities or countries did you visit?
21. What’s something new you tried that you want to keep doing?
22. What was your favorite meal, and who were you with when you had it?
23. What did you get next level excited about?
24. What song will always remind you of this year?
25. What was your favorite show?
26. What was the best book you read?
27. What was the best movie you watched?
28. What’s one habit you’re proud of building?
29. What habit you’d still like to build?
30. What’s something you want to leave behind in the new year?
31. What did you want and receive?
32. What did you want but didn’t get?
33. Where did most of your money go?
34. What was the best thing you bought this year?
35. What is a quote that sums up your year?