37 Journal Prompts for End-of-Year Reflection (2023)

End-of-year reflections changed my life! 

As Tony Robbins said,

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” 

If we want growth and change, we have to get good at asking the right questions and creating a habit out of self-reflection. 

Understanding your heart, mind, and soul and your strengths and weaknesses is the key to growing, molding and manifesting your dream life. 

Over the years, I credit self-reflection practices for helping me dig deeper to solve personal challenges, deliberately consider the direction of my life, and find more happiness and fulfillment. 

So let’s get started, shall we?

6 Benefits of Doing an End-of-Year Self-Reflection

“If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” ~ Tony Robbins

As humans, we are hardwired to grow and evolve. Some years we take time to enjoy our accomplishments and the scenery of our life, and some years we are transitioning and undergoing a deep transformation. 

Consistent and yearly self-reflection helps us stay aware and conscious of our responsibilities, story, and life’s direction.

Here are six benefits of yearly self-reflection.

1. Sometimes how we think and feel about something is entirely different until we put pen to paper. Self-reflection helps you get your thoughts out in the open and be transparent with self while remaining objective. 
2. Self-reflection is a form of self-care and self-therapy. Growth generally happens where there is space and time to breathe. Setting out days to self-reflect allows you to get honest, slow down from the bustling work days, and gently nudges you to take care of yourself.
3. Yearly self-reflections support you in celebrating your wins, observing your challenges, and finding ways to overcome them.
4. Encourages you to prepare and set goals for the following year.
5. It assists you in seeing clearly. It helps you know if you were living in alignment with your year’s vision and overall life’s vision. 
6. It’s also a tool to pinpoint priorities for the following year and simplify your next year ahead if needed.

8 Different Areas of Life

• Career
• Finances
• Family
• Romance and Relationships
• Personal Friendships / Social Network
• Fun / Giving Back
• Lifestyle and Self
• Mind, Body, & Soul 

Related: How to Do a Personal End-of-Year Review (2023)

Tips on How to Do End-of-Year Journal Prompts

• Feel free to make the process your own and answer the questions however you like. You can split up the questions into chunks and answer five questions daily or answer them all at once. 
• Also, omit any questions that you don’t resonate with. And use any question as a launch pad to develop a question that better suits your needs. 
• Additionally, you can use these questions to take inventory of the past five or ten years or your entire life. They work well that way too! 
• Get transparent and honest, and don’t sensor yourself. No one is reading it; it’s just for you. Try not to judge your honesty or be too hard on any mistakes. Seek to understand and use it as a tool to find solutions.
• Allow time to rest, relax, play music, ponder, slow down and let your stress and day-to-day go. 
• Get your beverage of choice, light some candles, and enjoy spending time with yourself. 
• You can choose to do it with a loved one as well as a way to connect deeper with them.

Be sure to check out Esther hick’s emotional guidance scale for questions regarding emotion. 

After you are done, head to the end-of-year life review, where questions become more focused on the different areas of life and set a plan for the following new year. 

37 Journal Prompts for End-of-Year Reflection 

1. In one sentence, describe your year.
2. What was the theme of this past year? (i.e., spiritual awakening, financial independence)
3. Describe your overall year with one single emotion. (i.e., happy, frustrated, content, etc.) Check out the emotional guidance scale.
4. If this last year were a color, what color would it be? 
5. What would it be if this past year was a movie, book, piece of art, or song?
6. What areas of life did you plan to focus on this past year?
7. What areas of life did you actually focus on?
8. From 1 to 10, rate your satisfaction for your overall year, ten being the most satisfied and one dissatisfied.
9. If you asked someone you trust and who loves you, what would their rating be on satisfaction?
10. What were your biggest wins and accomplishments this year? How do you feel about them, and how did you reward your successes?
11. What was your most challenging moment this year? How do you feel about how you handled it?
12. Did your actions align with the vision of yourself and your life? How can you be in more alignment?
13. Did you experience any curveballs this year? How did you handle it, and what did you learn from it?
14. What struggles or mistakes did you have this past year? What were your lessons?
15. How do you plan to work through the lessons you have learned?
16. In this past year, if everything went your way? Who would you be? What would you be doing, thinking, and feeling?
17. Name one thing that you are most proud of this year.
18. What was your favorite experience this year? 
19. List ten things you are grateful for this year.
20. What do you wish you could have gotten done but didn’t?
21. How was your well-being (mental, emotional, spiritual)?
22. What habits did you work on, adopt, or let go of?
23. Did you learn anything new about yourself this past year?
24. What fears came up this year?
25. Are there any parts of yourself that you found yourself judging and disliking?
26. How do you feel about the balance and harmony in your life this past year?
27. What internal resistance or blocks got in your way this year?
28. What is the one thing that you probably shouldn’t have done and judged yourself for and would like to let go, forgive yourself, and make peace with?
29. Is anything in the way of your overall life goals, purpose, and mission? 
30. What, if any, inspirational or life-changing books did you read? What did you take away?
31. What, if any, fun hobbies or volunteer/charity work did you engage in? What are your thoughts and feelings about your extracurricular activities?
32. What is one nice thing you did for someone this past year?
33. What is the theme of next year?
34. What areas of life do you want to focus on next year?
35. Are there any habits you want to work on, let go of, or adopt next year? 
36. List three priorities (in your control) that you will complete next year. 
37. In one paragraph, free flow and sum up your past year’s experience.

Closing Thoughts on End-of-Year Journal Prompts

Now you’ve got the list of simple journal prompts for end-of-year self-reflection, head over to check out our personal end-of-year review article to plan for next year. 

I wish you many blessings, so much love, and joy for the year ahead.

You might also enjoy: 47 Daily Affirmations for Success and Motivation

If you liked the article, please share it on Pinterest and socials. And connect with us on socials. 

Happy manifesting and much gratitude. 

Hooked on Manifestation?

Sign up for our email newsletter to get your free effortless manifestation training worksheet, where we deep dive into how to be an effortless manifestor and talk about personal stories and experiences.