A few years ago I came across Steph Ango’s 40 Questions to ask Yourself Every Year.

Since then, I’ve made it a practice in the last week of the year to work through those questions in my Bullet Journal.


I’ve really loved the practice. I love the last few days of December every year — the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new chapter feels so hope-giving to me.

These questions have been a notable part of that transition time these last few years.

(I also follow Ryder Carroll’s advice to always start a new journal in each new year, so these questions end up being the last 2-4 pages of my journals each year. The new journal also has a powerful way of adding to the “opening a new chapter” feeling for me.)


All that being said, I’ve noticed that there are some questions on Steph’s list that I’ve not always found as useful to me (as one example, I’ve found that the questions about music, media, and fashion tend to be less useful to me).

And I’ve also noticed that sometimes I wish I could add my own questions.


So I’m going to!

Here’s MY list of 40 Questions to ask Myself Every Year, which is about 80% the same as Steph’s and 20% my own:

My 40 Questions

  1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
  2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?
  3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
  4. Did anyone close to you die?
  5. What cities/states/countries did you visit?
  6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?
  7. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
  8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
  9. What was your biggest failure?
  10. What other hardships did you face?
  11. Did you suffer illness or injury?
  12. What was the best thing you bought?
  13. Whose behavior merited celebration?
  14. Whose behavior made you appalled?
  15. Where did most of your money go?
  16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
  17. What song will always remind you of this year?
  18. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?
  19. What do you wish you’d done more of? … less of?
  20. How are you spending the holidays?
  21. Are you carrying anger/frustration towards anyone now that you weren’t this time last year?
  22. What was the best book you read?
  23. What did you want and get?
  24. What did you want and not get?
  25. What did you do on your birthday?
  26. How did you Fight for Rest this year? What did you do for vacation? … sabbath?
  27. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
  28. What kept you sane?
  29. Re-read your /why page. What are 5 ways you fulfilled your “Why” this year?
  30. Does it need to be updated at all? Anything added? … Removed?
  31. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your relationship with 1) God, 2) Yourself, 3) Humanity/Others, 4) Creation? Why do you give that answer?
  32. What did you do this year to leave a legacy?
  33. What did you do this year that will leave the world a worse place?
  34. What did you do this year that will leave the world a better place?
  35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?
  36. What political issue stirred you the most?
  37. Who did you miss?
  38. Who was the best new person you met?
  39. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?
  40. What is a quote that sums up your year?