New year journal prompts
New year journal prompts help you close one year honestly and start the next with a few goals you'll keep. Review the year from your calendar and photos, since December remembers mostly December. Then write each resolution as something to start, and book the day you'll check on it.
How to use these. Give the review an hour between Christmas and early January, with your calendar and camera roll open. Do the resolutions on a different day. Two or three is enough.
Calendar and camera roll
Looking back from December, the last few weeks and the loudest moments crowd out the rest. Your calendar and photos kept the other eleven months.
Scrolling my calendar month by month, what's one thing that happened in each month?
Answer this with JoyWhich three photos from this year would I keep if I could only keep three, and why those?
Answer this with JoyWho did I message most this year, and what does that say about who mattered?
Answer this with JoyWhat the year taught you
Now, meaning. Keep it concrete.
What was the hardest week of the year, and what got me through it?
Answer this with JoyLeave one, take one
Two lines. Then the thank-you.
One thing I'm leaving in this year: ___. One thing I'm taking with me: ___.
Answer this with JoyStart goals
Write each resolution as something to do more of. "Stop snacking at night" becomes "eat a real dinner by 7." Two or three, at most.
A resolution I usually write as "stop" or "less": ___. Rewritten as something to start or do more of: ___.
Answer this with JoyWhat's the smallest weekly version of that resolution I could do even in a bad week?
Answer this with JoyWhen in my week will it happen: which day, which time, which place?
Answer this with JoyThe February check-in
The push of a new year is strongest in its first days. Plan now for when it eases.
On February 1, I'll reread this and ask: what have I done, what got in the way, what will I adjust?
Answer this with JoyIf I've slipped by then, what will I say to myself instead of quitting?
Answer this with Joy1,066 resolutions, one year later
A Swedish study followed 1,066 people for a year after they made New Year's resolutions, and 55% of those who answered at 12 months said they'd kept theirs going.1
Wording made the biggest difference. Approach goals, aiming to start or do more of something, succeeded 58.9% of the time, against 47.1% for avoidance goals.1
Support helped. Up to a point. The group given some extra information and exercises on goal setting did better than both the group given none and the group given the most.1 This page keeps the resolutions short, with one check-in, for that reason.
The date does some of the work too. Interest in goals like dieting and gym visits rose after fresh-start dates such as a new year, a new month and birthdays.2 The February check-in is there for when that lift fades.2
Example entry: "January: new job. March: Lena's wedding. June: hurt my knee. October: finally finished the shed. Leaving: saying yes to every weekend shift. Taking: Sunday calls with Gran. Resolution, old: stop drinking on weeknights. New: have a sparkling water with dinner Monday to Thursday. Tell: Kai, who's doing the same."
- "Stop scrolling in bed": Read ten pages before lights out.
- "Spend less on takeout": Cook at home Sunday and Wednesday.
- "Stop skipping the gym": Walk 20 minutes after lunch on weekdays.
If this year was a hard one
The turn of the year can land hard after a loss, a breakup or a year that went badly, or when you're spending it alone. You don't have to review anything or set a single goal.
The journal prompts for grief or loneliness may fit this week better, and the resolutions can wait until spring. A new month or a birthday counts as a fresh start too.2
Questions people ask about new year journaling
When should I do a new year review?
Any quiet hour from Christmas to the first week of January. January 10 is fine too. Do the review and the resolutions on separate days, so the goals come from what you found, not from how tired you were when you finished.
How do I make a New Year's resolution stick?
Word it as something to do, make it small enough for a bad week, and decide the day and place it happens. Then put February 1 in your calendar with a link to the entry.
How is this different from the new beginnings prompts?
This page reviews a whole year and sets resolutions. The new beginnings prompts are for any fresh start, like a move or a new job, at any time of year.
Related
In the journaling section: journal prompts for new beginnings, weekly review prompts and birthday journal prompts. To review the whole of your life at once, try the wheel of life.