Year End Questions

Many people rush into the new year with lofty ambitions and new year’s resolutions without properly evaluating, and learning from, the past year’s experiences. When we don’t intentionally unpack our previous season, we aren’t fully prepared to grow into the new season life affords us. With that in mind, I want to share with you some questions of introspection I like to use at the end of every year. I believe that when we deal with these questions in a very purposeful way, we are best equipped to set new goals and clothe ourselves with the right approach to enter the new year with determined resolve and clean spirits.
Questions for Introspection and Implementation
1. What are my fondest memories of .....? Who and what made them special?
2. Was there a beautiful moment(s) in which God revealed himself more deeply to me? (a relationship, a revelation, a serve opportunity, etc.)
3. What were some of the most meaningful projects, accomplishments, or activities I engaged myself in this past year? What underlying factors made them meaningful and how can I build these factors into my core values for the new year?
4. What did I procrastinate on and fail to get done this past year? What discipline can I add to my life to eliminate procrastination in the new year?
5. Am I closer to my friends and family from my activities this past year? If so, what activities brought me closer so that I can practice them more in .....? If not, what goals do I need to set to achieve greater relational intimacy in the new year?
6. The things that excite me most reveal much about my priorities. What did I celebrate most in 2011? What does this reveal about my priorities? Are they things that God values (such as one sinner coming to repentance or a person becoming more devoted to Christ, His Church, and His cause)?
7. How committed have I been to my local church: Christ’s primary and greatest agent for changing the world? How can I become more committed to Jesus, His Great Commission, and His Bride: the local church?
8. Who am I taking responsibility to mentor (discipleship)?
9. What happened this year that needs to be remembered, memorialized, perhaps recorded in a journal so I can return to it in the future and recall the blessing (or the rebuke) of God? Making such a record is like those monuments and altars God had the Israelites raise up when great things worth remembering had happened.
10. What have my prevailing feelings been (and what are they at the present)? What has been my dominant mood this year? Has there been a preponderance of sadness, of depression, of fear, of anger, of regret, of joy, of gratitude, of emptiness, of enthusiasm? How has that mood affected others?
11. What have been the “blessings,” those acts of grace that have come through others or—as I perceive it—directly from God himself? Can I express praise and appreciation (sometimes even written in a thank-you note or other expression of gratitude to someone)?
12. Who inspired or mentored me this year? Should I let them know how much they influenced my life?
13. Have things happened for which I need to accept responsibility, perhaps leading to repentance? Why did they happen? Were they avoidable and how can they be prevented in the future?
14. Is there a possibility that I am living in denial of certain realities? Painful criticism, sloppy work, habitual patterns that are hurting me and others?
15. Are there any resentments or ill feelings toward others that remain unaddressed, unforgiven? If I don’t deal with them appropriately, I will carry toxins into my new season in 2012. What must I do to deal with them? Do I need to release someone who has hurt me or apologize to someone I knowingly hurt?
16. Is there an overarching message God has been speaking into my life this year? Through Scripture? Through books? Through sermons? What has he been saying through those in my inner circle of relationships? Through critics? What insights swirl up and out of the deepest parts of my soul? Which of them needs to be repudiated, and which needs to be cultivated?
17. What are the things I might do and say that would make the people in my inner circle feel more loved, valued, appreciated, and even empowered going into ....?
18. Am I mindful of the socially awkward, the poor, the suffering, the oppressed in my local world and in the larger world? Am I in tune with appropriate current events in the world and perceiving them through the lens of biblical perspective? If not, what can I put in place this new year to help me become more attuned people, community, and events.
19. Am I closer to God now than I was at the beginning of ....? Why?
20. Now, what will be my goals and resolutions as I move forward into ....?