Self reflect 2023, set Goals 2024

I wanted to share a method you can use to reflect on 2023, figure out roughly what to do with your life, and set goals for 2024. 

Step 1 – Reflect on 2023

Go through various structured reflection prompts that’ll help you get clarity on how 2023 went for you, and what you can learn from it to help make 2024 the best year of your life.  I’d recommend writing down your answers to some or all of these prompts (or you can attend the workshop where we’ll do it together if you’d rather do it with friends). The nice thing about writing these down is that you can then look back on your Annual Planning documents every year – it’s a nice way to actually remember your life a little more, and to have a little more gratitude and appreciation for how far you’ve come 

• 🏆 Major Milestones: What were the 3-5 most significant events or achievements in 2023 for you? How did these impact your life?
• 💪 Challenges Overcome: What were the biggest challenges or obstacles you faced in 2023? How did you overcome them, and what did you learn from these experiences?
• 🌱 Growth and Development: In what ways have you grown or changed as a person over the past year? Consider changes in your beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours.
• ❌ Unfulfilled Aspirations: Were there goals or aspirations you had for 2023 that you did not achieve? Reflect on why they were not met and how you feel about it.
• 🎁 Surprises: What took you by surprise this year, whether positively or negatively? How did you adapt to these unexpected events or revelations?
• 🙏 Gratitude: What are you most grateful for in 2023? Think about people, experiences, or opportunities that enriched your life.
• 💆‍♀️ Self-Care and Well-being: How did you take care of your physical, mental, and emotional health in 2023? Were there new habits or practices you adopted?
• 👥 Relationships and Connections: Reflect on your relationships in 2023. How have they evolved? Were there new relationships that had a significant impact on you?
• 🎓 Professional or Academic Growth: How did you progress in your career or studies in 2023? What were the key learnings and how have they shaped your future aspirations?
• 🚀 Looking Forward: Based on your experiences in 2023, what would you like to do differently in 2024? Are there new areas you’d like to explore or changes you want to make?

Anyway, once we’ve done some solid reflecting on 2023, it’s time to look forward to 2024 and beyond.

Step 2 – Find your North Star

I like to think of life as a journey. You can choose to go anywhere, but it’s useful to identify where your personal North Star is so that you know roughly what direction you want to travel. Your North Star is entirely personal to you, and so we aim to find it through (surprise!) more structured journaling and reflection prompts. Here’s a flavour of some of my favourite prompts to help figure out roughly where my North Star is.

yes, it seems like a lot of effort right now. But you already know the answers to all these questions, somewhere inside of you. If you think too hard about them, you’ll work yourself into knots. But if you don’t think too hard about them, and go with your “gut” or your “body” or your “soul” or whatever non-mind entity you’d like, you’ll find the answers will come to you a lot more readily.

And the important thing about taking a step back to reflect about this stuff and identifying your North Star is that it gives you a direction to aim towards. You don’t want to be overly attached to any of your answers, or cling too strongly to this version of your future. But by thinking about where your North Star is, you’ll be able to look at your life right now and ask: “To what extent is what I’m currently doing aligned with this future that I think I want?” And depending on your answer to that question, you can choose to make changes if you want.

• 💭 The Talent Service Prompt: If you had all the money and time in the world, how would you use your talents to serve others?
• 🎤 The Future TED Talk Prompt: You’re attending the TED conference, and everyone in the audience (including you) is deeply moved and inspired by what the speaker is talking about. The speaker is you, 20 years in the future. What is “You + 20 Years” talking about, and what’s so inspiring about it?
• 🚀 The Fearless Dream Prompt: What would you like to do, if you knew you couldn’t fail?
• 🤷 The Fail-Proof Dream Prompt: What would you like to do, even if you knew you’d fail at it?
• 🌅 The Ideal Tuesday Prompt: What does your ideal ordinary Tuesday look like? What are you doing? Who are you with? How are you spending your time? What makes this day perfect for you?
• 🌠 The Deferred Dream Prompt: What’s one dream you’ve always had but never pursued? Why is it a dream for you? What’s stopped you from pursuing it?
• 💖 The Role Model Prompt: Who are the people you most admire, and why? What qualities do they possess that you wish to emulate?
• 🌍 The Change Maker Prompt: If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why? How could you contribute to this change?
• 🌟 The Future Self Prompt: Imagine you’ve achieved everything you’ve ever wanted. How have you changed as a person? What qualities and achievements define this future version of yourself?
• ✍️ The Obituary Writing Prompt: What do you want your obituary to say? Write it out.
• ⚰️ The Tombstone Message Prompt: What would you like written on your tombstone? It has to be under 280 characters to fit