Introduction
Join me on a week of daily self-reflection. It’s easy, powerful, and free.
What’s the secret sauce?
You already have all the answers you need. Sometimes it just takes the right questions to uncover them.
Below you can find morning mindset and evening reflection questions, and a bigger reflection at the end of the week. Follow along. A couple of minutes of reflection each day can go a long way, because:
Obviously not after a single week though, but you have to start somewhere.
I recommend taking these steps in preparation to get the most out of it:
1. Take a look at the upcoming week. Appointments, obligations, cool events, everything that’s already set in stone. To make the most of this week, it helps to know what you’re dealing with in advance. Nothing kills the mood like an overlooked deadline.
2. Now that you know what this week has in store for you, write down your goals for this week. Make them impactful but realistic. Think: what do I need to do to make this one of the best weeks ever? And depending on personal preference and your current situation, best can mean pretty much anything. Fun, exciting, productive, memorable, relaxing. It’s up to you.
3. Think of a reminder, affirmation, or question that will help you to achieve this week’s goals, and write it down. I’ll tell you to get back to that one every day. Examples:
4. Depending on personal preference, prepare a notebook, some sheets of paper, or a notetaking app. You will write down your notes throughout the week, which is important because we will get back to them.
How to
In the morning:
- Plan your day. This one is optional but still recommended. Think through today’s schedule, prioritize your tasks, and set goals. For a more in-depth guide, check out the article “daily planning -for dummies”.
- Go over the morning mindset questions, and write down your answers. This only takes a couple of minutes. Keep the notes, you’ll need them at the end of the week!
In the evening:
Go over the evening reflection questions. Again, keep those notes.
Alternatively, if you didn’t find the time, weren’t in the mood, or simply forgot, you can also do this at the start of the next day. It’s fine, I won’t judge. Happens to me all the time.
Monday
Morning Mindset
- How will I create value today?
- What would my ideal version do today?
- Something I think will be a waste of time today is:
- … and how I can gain something from it, or prevent it:
- If I were my own coach, which advice would I give myself today?
- Who can I forgive today?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
Get ~8 hours of high-quality sleep
Evening Reflection
- A word that would describe this day is:
- A positive moment I remember is:
- Regrets I have about this day:
Tuesday
Morning Mindset
- A habit of mine that will be valuable today is:
- Something I want to be proud of at the end of the day is:
- What would I do with an extra hour of time today?
- … and how can I do it anyway?
- Something my most authentic self would do today is:
- Which positive people could I surround myself with today? (positive mindset, not covid positive...)
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
Stay hydrated throughout the day. Preferably just water, no soda etc.
Evening Reflection
- Summarize this day in a simple drawing:
- A challenge I handled well was:
- What didn’t work as expected?
Wednesday
Morning Mindset
- What did I learn from yesterday?
- What does my soul need today?
- The three most valuable tasks of today are:
- … and how I can make sure to focus on them is:
- A bold/important action I could do today is:
- How will I be of service today?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
No electronic devices 1 hour before going to bed
Evening Reflection
- Rate this day with either a thumbs up or thumbs down:
- What were my wins today?
- The hardest thing about this day was:
Thursday
Morning Mindset
- One thing I can get excited about today:
- A strength of mine that will be of great use today is:
- Something that was holding me back yesterday is:
- … and how can I make sure it won't happen today?
- Something I need to stop or say no to is:
- How will I be of service today?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
Meditate
Evening Reflection
- Compared to an average day lately, this day was:
- Which moments am I grateful for?
- I was wasting time/energy when:
Friday
Morning Mindset
- One thing I want to learn today is:
- The person I want to be today is:
- Someone I look up to is:
- … and what they would do today is:
- If I was without fear, what would I do right now?
- Who is going to help me today?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
Work on a passion project or spend time on a neglected hobby for at least 30 minutes.
Evening Reflection
- Summarize this day in one sentence:
- I was proud of myself when:
- Could I have been less stressed out?
Saturday
Morning Mindset
- What am I grateful for today?
- How will I grow today?
- One thing I'd rather not do today is:
- … and would my best self do it?
- What can I prepare today?
- Who do I love? Who loves me?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
All of the previous challenges!
Evening Reflection
- Today’s primary emotion was:
- A positive moment I will remember was:
- A negative situation I remember was:
Sunday
Morning Mindset
- What am I excited about in my life in general?
- How do I want to feel today?
- What causes me to feel stressed lately?
- … and what can I do about it?
- How could I inspire myself to do something bold today?
- Who can I help today?
- Answer to your custom daily reminder/question/affirmation:
Today’s challenge:
No challenge. Pat yourself on the back for making it this far!
Evening Reflection
- On a scale from 1-10, today was:
- Which moments am I grateful for?
- A missed opportunity today was:
And make sure to do the weekly reflection
Weekly Reflection
A week of daily reflections comes to an end. Feeling like the enlightened, all-seeing, all-knowing version of yourself yet? If not, then this final reflection might do the trick.Grab all of the notes you’ve created throughout this week. Especially the evening reflections. Make yourself feel comfy, put on relaxing music and get ready for some deep thinking.
As I’ve mentioned in the intro, you have the answers. All I can do is provide the prompts and questions to tease them out of you. So here are the final, and in my opinion most important ones for this week:
- Great things that happened to me this week / moments I appreciated
- Great things that I did / achieved
- Struggles I had this week
- Things I longed for / something that would have made the last week better
- Did I manage to do the daily challenges? Why, why not?
- Looking at my answers from point 1, did I make sure the people involved know how much I appreciated these moments? (If not, I hope you got the hint)
- Looking at my answers from points 1 + 2, what enabled me to do those things?
- What would a better version of myself say about my answers to points 3+4? A version that has everything figured out, about 1 year from now. Any advice I would give myself?
- Now I’m 100 years old and have lived a long, happy, and fulfilled life. Any advice I would give to my younger, troubled self (referring to points 3+4).
And last but not least:
10: Let me know how you liked this week of daily reflections. Do you want me to do something similar again? Any ideas on how to improve this format?
