A Practice: 9 Questions to Close Out the Year & Welcome 2022
2021 has been another unprecedented year, and as we continue to come out of our cocoons and shape our new worlds, the end of year and the beginning of another is a moment for reflection.
Give yourself permission and make time to look back at your year and look forward to the one ahead. I offer these 9 Questions to reflect, evaluate, and tune-in. Then have a little fun writing a closing note to 2021 to commemorate the year and a welcome letter to ring in 2022.
I wish you a celebratory, calming, and brilliant close to the year!
Say good-bye and thank you to 2020 with these prompts:
Start by answering these questions that help you Reflect, Evaluate, and Tune-In:
Reflect
Highlights: Reflect back across all of 2021. Consider what happened across the months. What were the highlights?
Celebrate: What do you want to celebrate? What do you want to acknowledge of yourself and others? What will you do to reward yourself?
Learning: What did you learn in the last year—about yourself, new skill sets and knowledge, and about those around you and the world?
Evaluate
Worked: What worked for you in the last year? What do you want to keep doing?
Didn’t Work: What didn’t work for you in the last year? What do you want to stop doing?
Try & Practice: What do you want to try and start doing? What do you want to do differently next year? What would you like to practice?
Tune-In
Feeling: How are you feeling right now as you close the year? What is your energy level? Is it low, medium or high? How can you honor how you’re feeling? What do you need to support you best to be ready for the year ahead?
Unsustainable: What was unsustainable last year or right now? What needs to be addressed to bring more sustainability to your life+work? What small actions can you add to your days, weeks, months, year to make it all more sustainable? What structures might you need to put in place to help make life+work more sustainable?
Let go: What might have had negative impacts in the year? What’s been difficult? What do you want to let go and shake off? What do you want to say good-bye to and release? What can you surrender? What can you reframe?
Now, write a closing note to 2021 and a welcome note to 2022:
Dear 2021… Farewell! …
Consider these additional prompts if helpful:
It was a great/challenging year, because…
I’m grateful and thankful for...
I will celebrate...
I acknowledge...
I will let go of...
Dear 2022… Welcome! …
Consider these additional prompts if helpful:
My hopes for the year…
In my end-of-year highlight reel I hope to see...
My ambitions for the year…
I’m so excited to create…
At the end of the year, I’ll be ready to celebrate…
I want to feel… and will do/be… to create that experience.
I will care for myself and build my life+work resilience by doing…
I want to learn or master… in the new year.
I want to try… and will practice... in the new year.
While I suggest answering these questions in a journal with your favorite beverage nearby, if you prefer you can also get a template download or write in the Google doc for easy note taking here.
Here’s to starting fresh in 2022!
Interested in More 2022 Reflection?
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