What questions do you ask to reflect at the end of the year? Better yet, do you feel like this year was the best year yet?
The secret to life is momentum and inertia.
If you’re making progress, it’s difficult for life to push you backward.
If you’re standing still, life can easily tip you over and turn your whole world upside down.
So how do you know if this year was better or worse than last year?
How do you make sure next year is superior to both?
Asking these end of the year reflection questions will ensure a constant upward trend in your life.
Make sure you’re always moving forward. You deserve it. Grab this workbook and this free exercise here.

Questions to ask for a Fantastic 2021
- What were my goals at the beginning of this year?
- What kept me from reaching my goals?
- How do i feel about myself this December? Confident” Loving? Disappointed?
- What was the number one cause of any failures to achieve my goals this year?
- What was the number one thing that led to my success this year?
- What did I achieve this year? Large or small.
- How did I exceed my expectations of myself this year?
- Where did I fall short of my mark?
- What life area suffered the most this year and why? (Money, job, business, relationships, self development etc…)
- What would last year’s me say about this year’s me?
- What do I want this year’s me to say about next year’s me?
- If I could choose one goal to reach next year, one goal that I will achieve no matter what…what would it be?
- Am I better off this year than last year?
- Have I made progress at all this year?
- Do I feel like I did a good job, a decent job, or do I feel like this year just went down the tubes?
- Which one of my strengths caused the most success this year?
- Which one of my weaknesses caused me the most pain?
- Which quarter of this year was the greatest and why? Which was the worst for me?
- How do I plan to take control of my life next year in ways I didn’t this year?
- When it comes to my overall happiness and satisfaction with life, what score (out of 100) would I give this year?
Deep end of the year questions
- Did I waste a year of my life, or did I make it count?
- Will I regret this year on my deathbed?
- What if someone wrote my biography based solely on this year?
- If there is a god, someone who can see through all my fronts and B.S. how would I be judged for this year alone?
- Did I change anyone’s life this year?
- Did my body become healthier or sicker this year?
- How many times did I do something impressive this year?
- Which has more weight: the amount of times I was proud of me this year, or the amount where I was disappointed?
- Did I grow as a person…at all?
- Am I going to repeat this year next year? Regardless of how it went.
- Would I live this year over again if I could?
- Did I make excuses or did I take responsibility for my circumstances?
- Was I a positive influence this year or a nuisance?
- Whatever happened this year, do I forgive myself?
- Am I hanging around the right people? Are they good for the path I want to pursue next year?
End of the year questions for friends
- How are you doing?
- Are you where you wanted to be this past january?
- What are we gonna do next year?
- Do you think having a “rest” year is good, or do we move toward our potential every single year?
- What was your favorite thing about this year?
- When we’re 85, what do you think we’ll say about this year?
- Was this year a blessing or a curse?
- How does this year rank to other years you’ve lived through?
- How would it feel if you changed the world, and looked back on this year like “that’s the year when it all started.”
- Are we greater or worse friends since the beginning of the year? And why?
End of the year questions for students
- Did I push myself this year?
- What needs to be done next year to meet my goals for after school?
- Was I a positive influence in my academic environment?
- How do my teachers and mentors feel about me?
- Am I a student who just gets by, pushes themselves, or fails miserably? Why?
- What do I love about my education? What do I hate about it?
- How could I make learning fun for next year?
- What are the benefits of learning? Am I receiving those benefits?
- Am I in the right place, at the right time to learn what I need/want to succeed?
- What is my ratio of work – fun – study? Balanced or imbalanced?
Funny end of the year questions
- Is this life making me feel young or am I turning into an old geezer
- If 18 year old me saw that I’d have to live through this year, would they smile? Or skip town?
- Maybe Peter Pan had the right idea? This growing up shit is for the birds!
- If my life were up for auction, how much would it go for?
- Did I avoid getting fat, drunk and pregnant this year?
- Should I become best friends with the floor? At least it’ll be there for me when I fall.
- Is this entire year just a prime example of what happens when I’m left unsupervised?
- Maybe this year sucked so bad because we were all missing something from our diet…I think its a vegetable called “mind your own fucking business”.
- Can that vegetable be juiced?
- How do I avoid having to feel things next year?
End of the year questions for teachers
- Am I a beacon of knowledge, or a task master of memorization?
- Is it more important to follow the rules or inspire?
- How many of my students will become adults and say “that was the best teacher I ever had?”
- Do my students enjoy learning, or are they just here because they feel like they need to be here?
- Am I creating fonts of innovation and ideation, or am I just churning out cogs for the machine.
- Will any of my students change the world in a significant way? How can I increase that number?
- Am I a good teacher? What are 5 things a good teacher does?…only 5.
- Do my colleagues consider me an authority and respect me within our field?
- Do I feel good about my contribution, or do I just show up and grade papers?
- Why did I become a teacher in the first place? Have I adhered to those principles or strayed?
End of the year reflection questions for adults
- Where did I expect to be 10 years ago? Am I there?
- Am I waiting too long to make a change i know i need to make?
- How am I doing?
- Is work what I want it to be?
- Do I feel inspired?
- Am I afraid to ask for more in the for fear of looking “ungrateful”
- Are the people that I look up to proud of me? (or would)
- Do I have colleagues (or friends) who are really good at life that I can share notes with?
- Do I have mentors and teachers 10 years ahead of me who can guide me?
- Am I doing enough to help those not as advanced as me?
- How am I serving my larger community (or group)?
- What do i do each day that inspires me?
- Is my life enriching my spirit? Or is it just draining me slowly.
- Am I giving up “fun” in the name of being an adult?
- Am I as in charge of my life as I thought I would be when I was younger?
- Would I trust my adult self to teach my young child self?
- If life was race, and being as grown as I should be determined my score…would I bet money on myself in that race?
- Am I learning and growing each day (even if only a little)?
- Can I notice clearly stuff that I was into as a child fading away. (Is the childish shit you were into leaving. Are you growing and maturing?)? Make a list of a few things.
- If I continue taking the path I’m taking right now…where does it lead?
End of the year reflection questions for employees
- Did I perform to the best of my abilities this year? Or did I slack off?
- Are my employers responding to my work ethic?
- How do my fellow employees feel about me?
- Does my paycheck reflect the effort I put forth?
- Is my job going in the direction I want? Is that direction good for me?
- Is my job aligned with my purpose in life?
- What is my satisfaction score with the work that I do and the job I have?
- If I were in my boss’s shoes, am I a good employee? Or do I just think I am?
- How do I feel when I wake up and go to work?
- Do I even want to be an employee? Or do I want to be the boss and have employees?
End of the year reflection questions FREE pdf
There are many things you could ask yourself to understand where you succeeded and where you failed this year, but only 10 matter most. Get this Workbook for free and follow the roadmap to understanding how you grew, and how to become more of your best self in the future.