20 Questions I Reflect on Every Year
I am an avid follower of stoicism, and reading Seneca had some influence, it’s one of the reason I adopted his retrospective practices and created this questions out of it.
I made my own questions out of Seneca wisdom and meditation by asking questions to evaluate my actions, values, and personal growth every year, and sometimes monthly since I discovered stoic in 2020. Drawing inspiration from stoic works (such as Letters to Lucilius, and Meditation). I have now updated it to even reflect some deep aspect of my life.
Here’s the updated version of my yearly retrospective questionnaire template on Notion that align with Stoic principles and practices if you’re curious.
Feel free to copy, add, rearrange or remove questions as you wish, and share your edits with me. This is a personal exercise that I started in 2020 and it has since become a tradition for me that I enjoy doing year to year. I hope you find it valuable as well.
The questions are as follow:
What new path did you tread this year that you had never walked before? Was it virtuous and worthy of continuation, or should it be abandoned?
Which lands did you travel to this year, list them? Which of them nurtured your soul, and which would you willingly return to? What new places will you seek in the coming year?
What do you still desire yet lack? Have you prepared yourself, in mind and effort, to obtain it without being enslaved by its pursuit?
Did you give life to your vision or leave it to linger in thought? How will you take greater action to bring your aspirations into reality?
What was your greatest failure this year? How did it test your resolve, and did it strengthen or weaken you? How many of your trials bent your spirit but did not break it?
What was your greatest triumph this year? Did you take time to rejoice in it, or was the joy fleeting? What did it teach you of the nature of contentment?
Where did your wealth flow this year? Did it go toward what is necessary and good, or did it serve desires that added no lasting value?
What fears burden you? What steps can you take to lessen their weight and strengthen your peace of mind?
In comparing yourself to last year, are you wiser, more at peace, or closer to living the life you deem virtuous? Have you grown in body, wealth, or happiness—or faltered in any of these?
Did love find you this year, or did you seek it in vain? What did love teach you of yourself and others?
Is there someone you have wronged or neglected? Will you take the necessary steps to restore what has been lost in that bond?
Who among those you met this year brought the greatest wisdom or joy into your life? What did you learn from them?
What lesson, born of this year’s experiences, will you carry forward as a guide for the years to come? How will it shape your actions?
What did you avoid out of fear or laziness that you know you should have faced? How will you muster the courage to address it next year?
Did you exercise mastery over your desires and impulses, or were you ruled by them? How will you take greater control in the coming year?
What time was wasted in trivial pursuits? How will you guard against letting the same happen again?
What wisdom did you gain through suffering or hardship? How can you apply this wisdom to live more virtuously?
Did you focus on what was within your control and let go of what was not? Where did you fail in this regard?
Have you been kind, just, and fair in your dealings with others? If not, where must you improve?
If this were your last year, would you have lived it well? What changes will you make to ensure you do not waste another moment?