Questions to ask yourself as we enter a new year

I almost said I can’t believe it is New Year’s Day, but for some reason, this year it feels about time.

I think it might be because my head has been absolutely brimming with ideas as we approached the end of the year, and in all honesty, I can’t wait to get started on them.

As much as I feel ready to get my 2026 plans underway, I always try to make time to reflect on the previous year.

I have put together some questions below to help you reflect on the last year, look ahead, and discover what might be helpful for the upcoming year.

What were your top three highlights of the year?

This question can seem basic when you first consider it, but being able to identify your top three highlights can really show what your priorities are when it comes to how you want to spend your year or how you want your year to feel.

For example, a highlight for me was a series I posted on my personal Instagram account. I created a challenge called The 333 Method, which involved tracking three habits for 33 days.

Initially, this was something I was quite scared of doing, and there were moments throughout the challenge when I thought, 'What am I doing?' But I ended up enjoying it so much, and it definitely sparked something in me that I hadn’t experienced before.

What is something you wanted to do and didn’t? Why didn’t you do it?

This question is interesting because it prompts you to consider your ‘why’. Identifying your ‘why’ for the goals and intentions you want to achieve is vital to making them stick.

Now, there were quite a few things I didn’t do last year that were on my list, but one recurring thing that I didn’t achieve last year or the year before was publishing my writing online at least 100 times.

My ‘why’ for not doing this has been fear and procrastination. I have done a lot of work on my fear of sharing online (thank you, The 333 Method), so after a little redesign of the goal, changing it from how many times I publish to how many words I write a day instead, I think I might make some good progress with my writing this year.

How will you track your progress this year?

Tracking progress isn’t something everyone enjoys. I know people who track their progress every single day, and others who write down their goals and don’t look at them again until they do their end-of-year reflection in preparation for coming up with next year’s goals! Both methods work for these individuals, and I guess you could say the outcomes are the same in some ways.

Saying this, in my experience, doing some form of relatively regular tracking is incredibly beneficial.

There are so many ways you can track your progress. You can use tick boxes and just pop a tick in there each day, or you can do a weekly or monthly reflection activity.

I'll be doing the 12-week year this year, which is exciting. I have never done that before, but I will be sharing more about it on my Instagram and YouTube channel.

I am also popping to the library to print off some trackers, as I find it much easier to track daily progress physically rather than digitally.

What is something new that you want to learn this year?

I don’t know about you, but this question really excites me as I love learning new things.

When we learn new things, our brain actively rewires itself through neuroplasticity, creating new neural connections and pathways. These increased pathways boost our cognitive function, improve memory, reduce stress, and enhance our problem-solving skills. All of this is a positive for our overall brain health.

This year, I will be pushing myself further with my piano and French studies. I have been learning both of these things (very) on and off over the years, but have decided to knuckle down and get on with them this year. I have set myself some concrete goals for both and am looking forward to sharing updates on my Instagram and YouTube channel.

How will I make time for rest this year?

Finally, and probably the most important of all, how will you make time to rest this year?

If you’re anything like me, you can get somewhat caught up in the excitement of a new year with new goals and intentions and go racing into it all without much care for your need for rest and be depleted by… February.

So, working out how you will make time for rest is crucial.

It is important to remember, too, that rest is different for everyone. For some people, it may mean resting, sleeping more, and relaxing at home, while for others, it might come from spending time in nature or pursuing creative hobbies like painting or knitting. Whatever replenishes the batteries you use to work on your goals, work out how you are going to make time for it.

For me, I am such a homebody that I often completely underestimate how good and mentally rested I feel after some time outdoors.

I have set myself the challenge of doing 10,000 steps every day this year (this is honestly going to be such a challenge for me), and after getting out for today’s steps, I felt so refreshed and renewed! I am battling a cold at the moment, so it was a bit of a struggle, but when I got back home, I felt so good for it, and my head felt clearer.

One of the most important things to remember at this time of year is that a list of 20 vague goals you don’t feel connected to will never beat 3-5 well-thought-out goals that strike the right balance between challenging and achievable.

You want to end the year feeling that you have overcome challenges and achieved what you set out to achieve, not that you need to add the same goals to next year’s list when you are no longer connected to them.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these questions, the goals you have set for yourself this year, and, finally, wish you a Happy New Year!!