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12 Questions to Complete Your Year and Start Anew:
With just a couple weeks away from the beginning of a brand new year, I'm preparing for one of my favorite reflection opportunities: "The End-of-Year / New Year Reflection." Engaging in questions is a great way to prompt a more meaningful reflection. Here are 12 "Thought-Starter" Questions that I check in on each year - and thought I'd share with you.
THE YEAR PAST:
1) What are you grateful for from the year past? What went well? What 'gifts' came your way? What about yourself and others are you grateful for?
2) What do you need to acknowledge yourself for? Think about your accomplishments, personal or professional growth, etc.
3) What were the lessons from past year? About yourself and/or anything else?
4) How did you honour your values and highest priorities last year? How did this play out and what was the impact? Don't judge if you some didn't go as well - just acknowledge and perhaps think about what you want/need to do for a different result next year.
5) What do you need to let go of or complete before the year is done? In your reflection, you may also consider some parts of the year past that perhaps did not go as well as hoped -- or perhaps there were some tougher circumstances at play this year. What do you need to do to complete this chapter and/or learn from them and create a new, fresh start?
6) If 2010 had a 'theme' for you - what would you name it?
THE YEAR AHEAD:
7) What do you want for yourself in 2011 -- and what will you do to actualize this 'want'? Of course, you can expand this reflection to include what you want for others (people, communities, etc).
8) How will you bring more of your strengths and values to your life and work? If you don't feel connected to your strengths & values, what commitment can you make to learn more? Hint: check out my tgimworklife blog and type 'strengths' for tips and articles - and/or get in touch!
9) How will you stay inspired and focused next year?
10) What are your personal learning and development goals for the year ahead?
11) How will you stay resilient? In what ways can you count on yourself if times get tough? Who else is there for you?
12) If there was a theme for what you want 2011 to be about for you -- what would you name it? .
Now for each of these questions, I can think of at least 12 more! So as you engage, feel free to ask yourself many more questions that are meaningful for you. | 
Late this fall, I was invited to be a contributor to a special project called the "The Gratitude Book Project." The publisher, Donna Kozik, was compiling gratitude anecdotes for each day of the year from over 300 contributors. We were each invited to answer this question: "What are you grateful for?" 
