Every year since 2009, I've done a kind of year-reflection to keep track of how my life is going, specifically how it's changed, and my goals for the future. I do this reflection using a serious of questions that I answer each year. I keep the questions in a onenote notebook (because back in 2009, I used onenote), and I don't look at any of the questions or any of the answers at all during the year, except at New Years. This makes it so that I don't remember any of the questions or any of the answers I gave before it's time to fill it all out again.
There are four categories of questions, and I add at least one question to each category each year, which is part of the reason why I have no idea how many questions there are and part of the reason why answering them all takes me a very long time - we're talking hours. Though to be fair I do tend to be a bit long-winded in my answers.
The four categories are:
Life, or General - These have to do with the current state of things. Age. Currently reading. That sort of thing.
Favorites - Self explanatory. Favorite books, video games, youtubers, etc.
Dreams - My hopes and dreams regarding university, love, life, etc. This is also a place to reflect on my literal dreaming, and try desperately to remember some of the dreams I've had that year.
Questions - These are specific questions I want my future self to answer every year, next year, in twenty years, etc. Did I ever post that fanfic? Are people still going on about 2012? Did you get into University? Did The Hobbit come out like it's supposed to, how was it, how did you see it, what was it like? Ordinary stuff.
There's also a section for what playthrough of Tales of Symphonia I'm currently on. When I started in 2009 I was at 3. I'm now at 6. Balling.
After I fill everything out and make new questions, I go back and read over the previous years. I love reading how I've changed over the years, with what I thought was important and what I wanted in my life. I always find it's a really great way to start a year, because you have to look back on your whole life (since 2009, anyway) and that inevitably gets you thinking about the future, and the changes and opportunities that await. I also really like seeing things come to fruition through this. In 2009 a lot of my focus was on what university would be like, because it was still just a dream. Now it's a reality! You can see your dreams come true or change as time goes by. Since 2010 I started asking frantic questions about The Hobbit movies and last year I finally got to answer them. This reflection reminds me that the things I'm excited for now will happen one day, and that anything can happen. One day I'll be using this to reflect on graduate school, getting a job, and starting a family. The future is bright!
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