Where have you been? What might you have done differently? How was 2016?
Where are you going? Do you have rough plans? Where do you want to go in 2017?
Here are our 10 Journal questions to Reflect on 2016 and plan for 2017:
Carve out some quiet time with your journal and your favourite pen, pour yourself a lovely cup of tea, or something stronger and take each journal prompt in your stride. You can choose to do this all in one go, or you may want to take breaks, let things settle and return when you next have time available. If you can, do your best to complete by 31st.
- Where were your accomplishments? What are you most proud of from your achievements in the past year? Can you list a few that felt like you were winning? They can be small, large, or in betweeny. Acknowledging and celebrating these is the first step to reflection.
- What did you enjoy most? What really lit the flame for you in 2016? Was it work? Relationships? Studying? Do you feel like you're enjoying what you're doing or how you're being? If not, this question may prompt some changes in job, career or lifestyle.
- Where did you flop? Take a look at where you feel like you didn't succeed? It's tough when we sometimes don't get it 'right' (whatever that looks like) but recognising where we flopped can often springboard us forward into something else. We have to be honest about what wasn't working in order to find what may work for us next year.
- Are there any regrets? Sometimes we don't want to consider regrets, but they can be a guide to what we passed up. Is there anything that you wished you had devoted more time to doing? These questions will dig deep but they can help you clarify what it is your spirt wants.
- What lessons did you learn? Was there anything that you felt you learnt? Where did they come from? Can you be clear about them?
- What will you do differently? We can only control ourselves and we have a choice with certain behaviours. Was there anything that you did that you need to acknowledge?
- What is the status of your goals? Did you have any goals from last year? If so, did you reach them? Do you like the word goals, if not, change it.
- Is there anything you need to do more of in your life? What activities do you need to do more of? What are you not giving your time? Where does the passion lie in your life and what lights you up?
- Is there anything you need to stop doing? Is there anything you can think of that you need to stop doing in 2017? Now is the time to reflect and write it down.
- Do you have any passion goals for 2017? This activity of reflecting and reviewing our lives every year is important. We need to be flexible to changes but we have to have some kind of road map to help lead us from our head to our hearts.
Take the time to reflect - it's a great habit to form, especially if you're thinking of being a counsellor or are already training to be a counsellor.
If you're thinking about studying with Counselling Training Liverpool, then our Introduction to Counselling begins on Wednesday January 11th, for 10 weeks, the cost is £130.
Get in touch here if you'd like to apply.
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