New Year’s Eve is a time to sit down, reflect and set intentions for next year. In this blog post, I’m sharing the New Year journaling prompts I use to reflect and reset in 2024.
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New Year is a renewal time. It’s the moment we look back on the past, let go of what doesn’t serve us anymore and set intentions for the year to come.
For me, a successful introspection has 2 steps.
One, reflecting on the past. This consist of looking back and letting go.
And two, setting intentions (not resolutions) for the future. This consists of creating a vision and setting goals.
If you follow the process, after using these New Year Journal prompts you will end up with an action plan to make the most out of the next year to come.
You can do this New Year Introspection out loud with friends or write everything all down.
One last thing, I strongly suggest that you take the time to write in your journal about it.
New Year Journaling Prompts to reflect and reset
1. REFLECT ON THE PAST
The first step consists of looking back on 2023.
This is very important if you want to set intentions.
This allows you to observe what was right and what was wrong about your life in the past year.
PHASE 1: New year journaling prompts to reflect on 2023
1. Sum up
First, I sum up the year.
One year has passed very quickly yet so many things have happened.
In each area listed below, I sum up in a few sentences what happened.
What were the big events, the turn ups, the breakthrough moments, etc.
The goal of this step is to bring out the core moments of the year so I keep it relatively short.
- Personal
- Relationships
- Family
- Friends
- Career
- Travels
- Habits
- General
- Other
2. Reflecting
Now is reflection time.
Which means it’s time to dig a little deeper.
This can be painful. This is usually when the crying happens for me, especially if I had a tough year.
So you might wanna grab tissues if you had a tough year, because now is the time to let it out.
If you want to start the year fresh and new, that’s a necessary step.
Here are the 3 new year journaling prompts I use:
1. What sucked about 2023?
I start with writing down what sucked.
The goal is to let go of the negative to make space for the positive in the future.
Like any grieving, we need to let out the negative feelings before we can feel happy again.
So now is not the time to censor yourself.
2. What good happened in 2022?
Then, l write down the positive about the past year.
You’re alive, right?
So if you’re following these New Year journal prompts, that means something has to be good about the past year.
Even if you had the toughest year of your life.
I think about every aspect of my life.
What about friends and family? Did I travel maybe? Maybe you got a promotion at work?
3. What am I proud of?
Here is the time to write down how I made myself proud in the past year.
If you are used to doing an introspection every year, you can look at your resolutions from last year.
Then you can acknowledge your evolution. If it’s your first time doing this, don’t worry.
I usually reflect about my accomplishments, even the smallest ones.
Find at least one thing you’re proud of in each area of your life that I listed listed in step one (the sum up).
3. Wrapping up and letting go
Now is the time to wrap up.
It is good to acknowledge the good and the bad, but holding on to it will only do you harm.
At this point, I’ve reflected and I’m ready to let it go.
That’ll be a huge step forward.
Here are the new year journaling prompts to use next:
1. What do I want to leave behind in 2023?
Time to let go.
What do you want to leave behind as you enter the new year?
I usually let my thoughts flow at this point.
I write down everything I do not want to bring with me through the new year.
And I write down the feelings, dynamics, people, places, energy and everything else I can think of that doesn’t serve my anymore.
PHASE 2: Looking forward to 2023
Now is the fun part: setting intentions for the new year.
The following new year journaling prompts are meant to all be positive.
It’s meant to give hope and motivation to dive fresh into the New Year.
Letting go the past year made plenty of space for the new you.
New year, new me, they say. Let’s make sense of that quote.
Here’s the New Year journal prompts to use to move forward.
1. Setting intentions
For me, the intention setting part is about feelings, self-reflection and healing.
Now is not the time that I get practical (the next step will be).
That’s when I tune in with how I feel.
But most importantly, with how I WANT to feel.
At this point, I want to connect with myself.
Who’s the person I want to be?
What value, strength or mantra do I want to live up to?
New Year journaling prompts for intentions setting:
- How do I want to feel?
- Who do I want to be?
- What kind of relationships do I want?
Intentions setting has to be very personal.
You can write down only words if you want to. There’s no rules.
If it’s your first time setting intentions and you have no idea where to start, here’s some journal prompts that will help you.
Whenever I feel __________________, I am going to remember that __________________. When ___________________ happens, I will do ______________________. I want to feel ____________________ about my (career, relationship, self, etc.) I don’t want to feel ______________________ anymore I will improve _____________________________ about myself
Related post:
How To Write Impactful Intentions
2. Setting goals
Now, it’s time to set goals.
I like to do it for every area of your life I listed in phase one.
Now, don’t be shy: aim big.
We always tend to doubt ourselves and think we wouldn’t be able to reach our goals if they were too big.
Well, the truth is… if our goals are too small, we will never accomplish anything.
So be brave: set big goals.
Even if you’re afraid of failure.
We all are.
3. Action Plan
Then, I turn my intentions and goals into an action plan.
That’s my way of avoiding resolutions that don’t make it through the month of January.
I write down an action plan so I know exactly where I need to start to reach my goals.
I break it down small enough to start working on my goals no later than January 1st.
Here’s the new year journaling prompts I use to break down my goals:
- What are ALL the steps I need to do to achieve that goal?
- What is the smallest step I can take now to get closer to that goal?
- What habit do I need to develop to stay consistent and make sure I reach my goal by the end of next year?
- When am I going to start?
- When and where am I going to do [habit]?
- What can I do now to make this habit easier to remember? (Do it)
- How am I going to make this habit stick?
- How am I going to keep track of that habit?
How To Develop New Habits
To develop (and keep) habits, I strongly recommend you get the book Atomic Habits, from James Clear.
This book has totally changed how I approach my goals.
James Clear is an author who has been researching about the science of habits for years.
Now he helps people develop habits that can change their life.
You can also download the first chapter of his book for free at jamesclear.com.
4. Final Word (literally)
My last step, and I would say the most important for setting intentions, is to choose 1 word of intention for the new year.
I see it as my mojo for the next year.
I ask myself:
- What is the word that will guide me through the year?
- What word do I want to live up to all year?
- What do I need more of in my life to reach my goals?
It doesn’t matter what the word is; as long as it is significant FOR ME.
Here are some examples of words that I have used in the past:
- Courage
- Trust
- Intuition
- Freedom
- Creativity
- Travel
- Purpose
- Habits
- Family
- Growth
- Mindset
- Positivity
- Compassion
Then, I write down this word and make sure it is visible or easily accessible during the whole year.
You could stick it on your fridge, in your car, by your bed, at work, or it could become you phone’s wallpaper.
What I love about this exercise is that I can look back on that word any moment of the year, whenever I need it.
And wherever I am, it will help me.
It just feels right, and reminds me I’m not exactly on track.
Journaling prompts for year round reflection and mindfulness
If you want to get a little more serious about journaling and keep the habit, I recommend you get your hand on a mindfulness journal that already has prompts in it.
I really like the one below; the prompts are simple and I think it’s a really good way to get started!
Related post:
Easy Journaling Prompts For Beginners
Conclusion
So this is it. New year, new me they say.
This is my entire process to reflect, let go and set intentions for the new year to get ready for the new me.
Now, one last little step.
It’s optional.
If you really want to make your wrap up significant and intentional, burn all the part about last year.
That’s a way to really let go of the past and I swear there’s something very empowering about it!
P.S. Do it safely please!!!
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