As a therapist, what I love most about the New Year Holiday is that it seems to be the one time of year that people are collectively self-reflective. While media outlets offer coverage of the year’s highlights and losses, people begin to consider new year’s resolutions and hold hope in their hearts that this next year will be better than the last. Although new year’s resolutions have come to hold a negative connotation, I appreciate what they represent. A desire for self-improvement, achievement, or simply a future that is brighter than the past. The first step in making any of these desires a reality is self-reflection. We cannot have a brighter future without learning from and making peace with our past. So as we enter into a new year, here are a list of questions to help you reflect on this past year, gather meaning from past challenges, and consider how these lessons can inform your steps moving forward.

19 Questions for 2019

1. As you reflect on 2018, what are you most proud of?
2. As you reflect on 2018, what are you least proud of?
3. What was the most difficult lesson you learned this past year?
4. What was 2018’s most pleasant surprise?
5. What caused you to feel the greatest disappointment in 2018?
6. What brought you the most joy in 2018?
7. What did you learn about yourself that you didn’t know prior to 2018?
8. What area of your life improved most in 2018?
9. What area of your life was least improved in 2018?
10. What was your most fulfilling moment this past year?
11. When were you most at peace in 2018?
12. What relationships fed you most in 2018?
13. What relationships depleted you most this past year?
14. What was your greatest inspiration this past year?
15. What habit, practice, behavior, or thing helped you most this past year?
16. What most hindered you from achieving goals this past year?
17. What experience from 2018 do you need to process more fully?
18. What emotions did you find yourself bottling in 2018?
19. What coping skill has helped you most this past year?

C.C. Cassell, Psy.D.

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Dr. Cassell is a licensed clinical psychologist who offers individual therapy services to adult residents of California and Missouri via a secure teletherapy platform. 

Phone:951.302.0093    Email:dr.cassell@itherapymail.com  
website: https://itherapy.com/counselor/dr-cc-cassell/