End of Year Journaling Prompts 2022
End of Year Journaling Prompts and Reflections for 2022
I find it enlightening and freeing to let go of the old year before looking into the next so wanted to share this simple process with you.
Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions and duality and who gives January its name, has two faces. One looks forward, and one looks back.
As the year draws to a close, in this quiet Twixtmas period, processing the year helps us decide what to take forwards and what to leave behind. If you have any resistance or nervousness about it, the questions are simple, and here is why I think it is useful.
If we don’t take a little time to reflect, we can carry bags of experience, feeling, thoughts and memories forward we don’t need. A lack of awareness or completion is like wearing a heavy coat when it’s warm, or carrying bags of stuff with us we don’t need.
Why do End of Year Journaling?
Integration
By reflecting on some of the key things that happened, we can allow our psyche to organise them, a process that happens in therapy. By bringing them into our awareness when we are calm and collected, we make sense of things like tidying up the flower beds, or putting all the scattered books in order in the library.
A Sense of Completion - Finishing Unfinished Business
Often we skip the important step of all our experience: completion. We whizz from one thing to the next without putting our periscopes up. Becoming aware and integrating our experience gives us a sense of completion, which stops those rattling thoughts arising when our unconscious mind thinks things are unfinished and keep telling us so, in the middle of the night, like a chattering monkey.
Making Neural Connections
As we go through life, most of us tend not to reflect in a considered way, which may be fine. But we can miss important things, such as how our behaviour or actions impact how our life feels to live. Simply by reflecting for a moment, we can even change the course of our life. By making connections, we become more self aware of the choices we make and how they affect us, what we want to continue, and what to leave behind.
A Sense of Achievement
We often brush past the good things we’ve done, focussing instead on what we haven’t done. By acknowledging what we achieved, and celebrating those wins, we give ourselves a sense of satisfaction and confidence in our actions, which we need to keep going. We can also see more clearly why we may not have achieved our goals and develop our capacity for self compassion for this, as well as reflecting why.
Finding Joy - Recalibrating the Negativity Bias
When we look over the year and bask in our times of joy, we allow ourself and our mind to re-experience that joy. This isn’t just for enjoyment, though do take time over it. It overrides our minds’ tendency to see things negatively (The negativity bias of the mind sees things as 6x more negative than things actually are). If we allow our mind to roam free on the negativity train, it can cause depression and anxiety.
Acknowledge any resistance and muster your self compassion. Grab a pen and paper for ten minutes.
7 End of Year Journaling Prompts and Reflections for 2022
What were your achievements? (look at the areas of personal, work, health, spiritual, family, relationships, fun.)
What could you improve?
What brought you joy?
What surprised you?
What can you leave behind?
What do you need to let go of?
Who do you need to forgive?
Which part of you healed this year?
Which part of you grew?
What hurt or pain do you need to tend to?
What are you most grateful for?
What are you most proud of?
One word for 2022?
One word for 2023?
The Therapy Toolbox Course
The Therapy Toolbox Course includes 200+ journaling prompts to deepen your self understanding. The course helps you develop self-awareness, clarity and nurture so you can step into your true self and shine! Address your habits and let go of thought patterns that don’t serve you. Starts in January, find out more here.
About Me
I am Kate, a psychotherapist and therapeutic counsellor and course creator. I want to help people become more true to themselves, so they can thrive in life. Find out more about me here.
