A self-assessment can help you track your progress in different areas of your life.
Maybe you have a dream goal that you’d like to reach by the end of the year. Or maybe you’re stuck in a rut and you have no idea how to get out of it.
A self-assessment is a great way to figure out how you’re doing and what you need to do to move forward. Otherwise, it’s so easy to remain stagnant in your personal or professional life, or even backslide on your goals. Regular check-ins can increase your self-awareness and help ensure that you’re always growing and improving.
Below, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to assess different aspects of your life and make real progress.
When to do a self-assessment
It’s a good idea to do at least one self-assessment before the end of the year. This way, you can take stock of your goals and make any necessary adjustments before the year is over. Here are some suggestions on when to do a self-assessment.
Mid-year check-in. You can do a self-assessment during the half-way point of the year. Six months gives you ample time to detect any patterns or trends. Are you making progress on your goals? Do you need to change your strategy? With a mid-year check-in, you give yourself enough of a buffer to end the year strong.
Quarterly check-in. A quarterly check-in is particularly helpful if you’re monitoring your career goals or other goals that line up with a fiscal calendar. You’ll always have your eye on the target and you can swoop in and problem solve before it’s too late.
Weekly or monthly check-in. You can also do smaller check-ins at the end of the week or month. This is a great way to track things like new habits or fitness goals. Or assess your mood and well-being. What were the things that created stress? And what were the things that brightened your week?
You can do your self-assessment as often as you’d like. But at the very least, you’ll want to complete the mid-year check-in so that you can track progress on your goals and ensure that the remainder of the year is a fruitful one.
What you’ll need for your self-assessment
- A notebook and pen to write down your thoughts, observations, and lessons learned.
- A calendar or planner to help you look back on the past few months.
- A quiet space that’s conducive to writing and reflecting.
- A candle or playlist to help create a nice, gentle vibe for your self-assessment.
Identify the categories you’d like to assess
First, think about the different categories of your life you’d like to reflect on. Some people like to do a holistic assessment of their personal and professional life. For example, their career goals, new habits, relationships, etc. Others might choose to assess one specific aspect. For example, they want to evaluate what makes them happy or how their side hustle is going.
If you’re not sure what you want to evaluate, then it might help to see where in your life you’re feeling dissatisfied or stuck. For example, maybe you wish your days weren’t so monotonous. Or maybe you wish you had more friends. A self-assessment can shed light on why you’re feeling this way and present solutions for getting unstuck.
Questions to ask yourself
For this exercise, you’ll want to have your planner or calendar on hand to help you review the past few months and jog your memory.
Here are some comprehensive questions to ask yourself to see how you’re making progress in different areas of your life. Feel free to answer all of these questions or pick the ones that resonate with you. You can also finetune them as you see fit.
Career assessment
- How are you currently feeling about work?
- How are your career goals shaping up? If you haven’t defined your career goals yet, then what would you like to pursue in the next three months?
- What challenges did you face at work?
- How did you address these challenges?
- What tools or resources have helped you the most?
- What tools or resources do you need to do your job well?
- What new skills have you learned in the past few months?
- What new skills would you like to learn or develop in order to advance in your career?
- Make a list of your work accomplishments. Which one are you most proud of and why?
Friendships and relationships
- In general, how are you feeling about your friends and loved ones?
- Who has been a source of happiness and strength? Who has created stress or frustration?
- Who would you like to spend more time with? Who do you need to set boundaries with?
- What are some of the ways that you can show up for your friends and loved ones?
- Are you feeling connected with your friends and loved ones? What are some things you can do to deepen your connection?
- Have you made any new friends or acquaintances in the past few months? What can you do to stay in touch?
- Are there any old friends you’d like to reconnect with? What can you do to reignite this friendship?
Hobbies and habits
- What hobbies or interests have brought you joy the past few months?
- What hobbies or interests are you interested in pursuing?
- What new habits would you like to integrate into your daily life?
- What bad habits would you like to break?
- What are some ways that you can carve out more time for your hobbies and interests?
Ending the year strong
After doing your self-assessment, you should have a better idea of how your goals are doing or get clear on what new goals to pursue. You’ll see the big picture and what you need to do to progress.
Using the takeaways from your self-assessment, here are some additional questions to consider so that you end the year strong.
- What can you do to get closer to your goals?
- What changes do you need to make in your daily routine so that you have more time and energy for your goals? For example, do you need to manage your time better? Do you need to say no to more things?
- What tools or resources do you need to help you realize your goals?
Written by JiJi Lee
