Happy New Year!  Each January 1st, most people reflect on their failures, brainstorm what they’d like to do better, and make a list of resolutions for the new year.

Rather than make New Year’s resolutions, I think it’s helpful to ask meaningful and honest questions of yourself to really nail down what’s important to you and what you hope to achieve in the upcoming calendar year.

I borrowed this list from a Medium article I came across, and am sharing a few excerpts I thought were helpful and thought-provoking when considering self-improvement for 2023:

“Self-improvement can be challenging. It can be uncomfortable and feel like a never-ending uphill battle. You have to constantly be willing to work, try new things, and adjust your habits if you want your improvement efforts to have any real effect. However, the benefits are endless.

A better approach is to start to make it too small to fail — one better habit at a time. Self-improvement doesn’t have to be a chore — you don’t have to force yourself to painfully read a book you don’t like or start a routine you may never stick to.

Designing a meaningful self-development journey means taking intentional steps toward becoming a better version of yourself. The process can be easier or more practical if you ask yourself a few meaningful questions every year as part of your self-improvement plan.

Self-awareness and self-improvement are two of the most important things you can do to improve your personal life. Self-reflection might not seem like a big deal, but it’s essential if you want to keep growing as an individual.

Self-reflection exercise not only helps you reflect on the previous year’s events but also provides a framework to explore future plans and goals. With clarity, you’re more likely to make the right choices in the coming year. A self-awareness ritual forces us to ask tough questions about our goals and actions. It’s a chance for us to reflect, set goals and take stock of where we are in life.

Here are some meaningful questions to ask yourself every year. These questions will help you to figure out what you are looking for in your future and where your priorities lie.

From dropping unhealthy habits to establishing new healthy habits, these questions can help clarify the path to a better year.

“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom,” says Francis Bacon.”

Here are some simple but useful questions you can ask yourself to focus on what you’d like to focus on in the New Year:

1. Did I achieve any of my goals from the past year?
2. What’s the one achievement I’m very proud of?
3. Am I happy with the direction my life is taking?
4. What do I want my life to look like one year from now?
5. What are my long-term goals? Can they be achieved 5 years from now? 10 years from now?
6. What are the short-term goals that can help me achieve my long-term goals? Can they be achieved next year by now?
7. What do I deliberately have to learn next year to become a better person?
8. What am I working on that I’m excited about next year?
9. What are the new opportunities I’m looking forward to pursuing?
10. What changes do I want to make and why?
11. What do I want to create more of in the coming year?
12. What’s the one habit that made the most difference this past year?
13. What are my favorite memories or experiences from this past year, and how can I repeat them?
14. What was my favorite TV show, and what did I learn from it?
15. What was the most impactful book I read?
16. What minimized stress and improved my mental clarity?
17. Who/what caused more misery or unhappiness?
18. What skill made the most impact in my career?
19. What made me happy or miserable?
20. What music helped me focus and get more done?
21. What were some of the best and worst moments of my year?
22. What’s the one thing I bought that made the most impact?
23. Which of my current habits can help me achieve my short-term goals?
24. If I repeat the same habits, rituals and routines, will I become a better or worse version of myself?
25. Which practices do I have to stop repeating, and which ones do I double down on?
26. What social connections helped me become a better version of myself?
27. How can I improve my relationships, physical and mental health and work/life balance?
28. What would I do differently if I could go back?
29. What was my biggest failure? Or my biggest challenge? What did I learn from this experience?
30. What will I do less this year?

“Questioning is the basis of all meaningful progress.”

Wishing all of you a healthy and happy 2023, and encouraging everyone to self-reflect and consider the questions above!

XO Dr. Karen Horton