7 Things to ask Yourself Going into 2018

Doing a personal review is critical before you set new year goals because it helps you set smarter goals that can assess what's important and tap into your motivators to help you achieve those goals! I'm all about making goals. It is also critical to setting more authentic goals that are in alignment with values and priorities going into a new year, because each year is different so your goals should be different. 

Here are seven questions I recommend we each ask ourselves:

1. What were moments of greatest joy and fulfillment? This is a great question to start with as it puts us in a positive and appreciative state of mind. It helps us reflect on what is good in our lives as well as gives us insight on what’s fulfilling to us. As we reflect on the people and activities that brought us this fulfillment we learn about what energizes us in both our personal and professional lives. We remind ourselves about what we want more of in the coming year.

2. What was challenging? As we reflect on the challenges we faced, we can remind ourselves that life doesn’t always bring us what we desire. We also remind ourselves that we can be resilient in the face of challenge. Our taking time to acknowledge challenges can also help unlock difficult emotions which we may have avoided. As we process this emotion, we recognize that some of our best qualities of courage, perseverance, patience, selflessness, grace, and strength are borne out of challenge. Without those challenges we wouldn’t be who we are today. This question helps us notice and honor our qualities of character, celebrate who are becoming, and be more grounded in values that are important to us.

3. How did I do on my goals in 2017? As you assess how you did, pay attention to what your strengths are that helped you accomplish your goals. For goals you didn’t meet, what did you learn?

4. How satisfied am I with different aspects of my life? For most of us a full and balanced life includes the following: physical health and well-being, relationships, professional or career growth, financial priorities, spiritual or personal growth, community service. As you examine each area that is important to you, look at what’s working well and what do you want more of?

5. Who are the people and relationships that matter? Sometimes in our pursuit of goals, we don’t pay attention to the people and relationships that matter. This question is to help us step back and be more intentional about the attention and presence we want to bring to the relationships that matter most. What are the practices and habits that we want to establish?

6. When am I my most inspired self? When do I feel disempowered? This question is about getting to know ourselves in our most inspired moments (What am I doing? Who am I being?). It’s also about bringing awareness to when we are our smallest selves. It’s about having compassion for ourselves when we are least empowered, so we can face important truths about our lives.

7. As I imagine myself as an 80-year old looking back at a life well-lived what do I see? This is a great question to examine our longer-term priorities, values, and goals. As I do this exercise every year, I find it fun to go back and see what’s changed and what’s remained constant in my vision of my best self.

As you look back through your answers, jot down what you’ve learned from this self-reflection. What’s important as you set goals for the upcoming year? What other questions have you found useful for your self-reflection?