We’ve all heard jokes about New Year’s resolutions, such as this one: “Last year, I was able to keep all my New Year's resolutions tucked away in a journal on my bookshelf.” The beginning of a new year is a good time to reflect on the past year as we plan for the coming year.
In this article, you can discover questions to help you reflect on last year and questions to give you ideas for next year’s goals, as well as tips for setting and achieving your New Year’s resolutions.
New Year Reflections: A Look Back to Move Forward
One way to set goals for the coming year is to reflect on the past year. Spend time looking at your photos, social media posts, letters, texts, and journal entries to review the year.
As you review the year, brainstorm open-ended questions with family members, and write down what you want to do to improve. Here are some questions to help you reflect on the triumphs and challenges of last year. You can also brainstorm some more questions with your family members!
Questions for Adults
- What was your favorite book, movie, TV show, or song, or any other favorites from this year?
- What is the coolest place you visited this year?
- What is your favorite meal you ate this year?
- What was your favorite moment from this year?
- What is the best piece of advice you got this year?
- What is the biggest problem you solved this year?
- What are you proud of accomplishing this year?
- What skills and life lessons did you learn this year?
- What was the most difficult part of this year?
- How would you describe this year using three words?
- What new friendships did you make?
- What changed in your life this year?
- What are you grateful for right now?
Questions for Teenagers
- What is the best dessert you ate this year?
- What is your favorite book you read this year?
- What is your favorite movie you saw this year?
- What is your favorite TV show you watched this year?
- What is your favorite song you listened to a lot this year?
- What was something funny that happened this year?
- What was your biggest challenge this year?
- What is your proudest achievement this year?
- What is something you learned in school this year that sticks out to you?
- What are you excited about for next year?
Questions for Children
- What was your favorite class in school?
- Which class was the hardest?
- What is your favorite thing you learned in school this year?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- What is something that happened this year that makes you happy?
- What was your favorite toy this year?
- What are you looking forward to doing next year?
- What would you like to learn next year?
- How can you make this new year a great one?
Questions to Prompt New Year’s Resolutions
Goal setting in the new year can seem overwhelming. Where to begin? Here are some questions to get ideas flowing. For even more ideas, check out this article about achievable New Year’s resolutions.
Financial Goals
- Do you want to set a monthly budget this year?
- How will you plan for saving toward retirement this year?
- How can you be better at managing your money this year?
- What long-term expenses do you want to save for this year?
- What is your target amount of money to save each month?
Health Goals
- Do you have health concerns?
- What can you do to improve your health?
- How will you manage stress?
- How will you protect and strengthen your physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health?
- Do you have any exercise goals?
- What are some ways that you can be more active in your day-to-day life?
- Do you want to make plans for meal planning or meal prepping?
- How will you eat more fruits and vegetables?
- How will you drink more water?
- Do you want to increase or improve your cooking skills?
Home Goals
- Would you like to set a goal to make your bed every day?
- How can your home be better organized?
- What clutter or unnecessary activities can you eliminate?
- How will you be more on top of cleaning tasks in your home?
- What home improvement projects would you like to accomplish?
Personal Development Goals
- Do you want to start a journal?
- How many books do you want to read?
- How will you spend more time in nature?
- How can you manage your time more wisely?
- What is something new you want to learn this year?
- How will you volunteer or give back to your community?
- Is there a character trait you would like to develop in yourself?
- Do you have a list of skills and hobbies you would like to work on?
- What career goals do you have? What do you need to do to achieve them?
- What is something you want to add to or take away from your daily routine?
- Is there somewhere you would like to travel? How can you make that happen?
- Do you want to decrease your screen time or set limits for your social media usage?
Family Goals
- How will you prioritize quality time with your loved ones?
- How will you prioritize date night?
- How can your family improve communication?
- What is something you want to teach your kids this year?
- What improvements would you like to make to your family culture?
- How will you keep in touch with friends and family who live far away?
- What is an activity you and your family can start participating in together?
- How can you be more involved in recording your family history? (See this article for some ideas.)
Goal Setting Tips
We all have different strengths and weaknesses. Some people are great at making and keeping resolutions, while others feel less confident in their ability to set and keep goals. Here are some tips for simplifying the goal-creation process.
- Use the SMART method to set goals.
- Simplify your list to the 1-3 goals that are most important to you.
- Try making short-term goals for one or two months, or make goal setting a twice-a-year event.
- Start small. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
- While you set your goals, ask yourself these questions about each of them. It can help you decide if the goal is something that is really important to you.
- Am I ready to make a change?
- What steps will this goal involve?
- How does this goal add value to my life?
- What will my life be like if I make this change?
Achieving Your Goals
How many of us begin the year with grand plans for our goals but never implement a plan to achieve them? Your goals are worthwhile, and you can achieve them! Here are some tips for working toward your goals.
- Try using a daily planner to help you keep track of your goals and activities.
- Be consistent in developing a new habit. Use a chart or list to track your progress.
- Celebrate small victories along the way to accomplishing your goal. Reward yourself at the halfway point.
- Ask a loved one to help you keep track of your goals. Decide what works best for you in your situation, and keep moving forward.
- Set reminders for yourself to take steps toward your goal and reminders to check in and evaluate how you are doing with your goals. Consider revising your goals or making a new plan if your original plan doesn’t seem to be working for you.
- Don’t quit if you write the same goals every year. Notice the changes you are making and congratulate yourself on your progress toward achieving the goal.
Preserve Your Memories
However you choose to reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the future, make sure you keep records of your responses to see how your concerns, answers, and goals change over the years. You might consider starting a yearly tradition of reflecting on the past year and making new goals with your family.
As you start this new tradition, remember to keep a record of answers to these questions either in print or using technology. A good way to preserve your memories that matter most and to keep a record of your experiences, successes, and challenges is at FamilySearch Memories.
By default, memories in FamilySearch Memories are public, so you can easily share them or have relatives look them up in the shared family tree. You can also mark special memories as private or to be shared within small groups. Here are a few articles to help you do this:
Here are some ideas for preserving your New Year’s questions and reflections:
- Make a scrapbook with the photos and mementos of the past year.
- Summarize the triumphs and challenges of the past year in a journal.
- Buy a special notebook just for the new year’s questions so you can look back and compare the answers every year.
- Have someone interview you or interview your family members about the questions. Make an audio or video recording of the interview to share with other family members.
Preserve your reflections and your loved ones’ reflections about last year, and get excited to achieve some amazing goals next year!
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