14 Coaching Questions to Boost Your Motivation for the New Year

At the beginning of a new year typically I don’t want to look back and review the past 12 months. I’m eager to focus on what’s coming next. On the other hand, thanks to coaching and the associated mindset, I found this step to be precious and essential, in order to gain more awareness about achievements and areas of improvement. It is also a great exercise to practice gratitude for all the life experiences and learning lessons.

Taking the time to review the past year will also help you to gain clarity about your future goals and vision.

This exercise will give you a roadmap on where to invest your focus in the next 12 months. From a brain standpoint, this will increase your determination in pursuing what is important for you, in this phase of your life. Neuroscience and brain-based coaching show us that when we spend time clarifying what we want, we wake up in the morning with a stronger sense of commitment and purpose. By reducing ambiguity and uncertainty, we boost our energy level. That’s the power of self-coaching.

Please keep in mind there is no need to spend hours in doing so. About 15-20 minutes of focus time is enough.

If you are a manager and you lead a team, it is an opportunity to reflect on your leadership style and learn from your experience.

Give yourself this gift. Find a quiet place where you can answer the following questions, without any external distractions. Make sure your phone is off, you are alone and you write your answers in your favorite notebook.

You might find some questions a bit repetitive. Trust the process and enjoy the journey!

 Here are the questions:

1. What went well in 2022 in my personal life?

2. How about my professional life?

3. What really made me happy?

4. What surprised me?

5. What am I proud of?

6. What could have been better?

7. Based on my last year's life experiences, what could I learn about myself?

8. What will I do differently this year?

9. What will I continue doing?

10. What will I stop doing?

11. What will I start doing?

12. What are the two major goals I want to achieve by the end of this year?

13. For each goal, what actions will I put in place and by when?

14. How am I feeling right now, after spending this time with myself?

 Would you like to know more about how ambiguity and uncertainty can kill our willingness to take action? Take a look at my book, “Improvise and Succeed”, where I combine the power of coaching with improvisation skills.