Annual Review & Goal Setting
A structured year-end review that actually leads somewhere.
An annual review is most useful when it's honest, specific, and connected to clear next steps. This workflow guides you through a reflective review of the past year and a grounded goal-setting session for the next one.
The Workflow
Review the past year honestly
Before setting goals, take stock of the year that happened — not the year you planned.
Help me conduct an honest annual review of [YEAR]. Here's a brain dump of what happened this year — wins, losses, surprises, disappointments: [BRAIN_DUMP] My main goals for [YEAR] were: [STATED_GOALS] Please help me: 1. Identify the three biggest wins — including ones I might be underselling 2. Identify the two or three goals I didn't hit, and ask me three questions to understand why (don't assume) 3. Surface any patterns across the wins and misses 4. Point out one thing in my brain dump that seems important but that I didn't flag as significant 5. Leave the goal-setting for step two — this step is reflection only
Replace: [YEAR], [BRAIN_DUMP], [STATED_GOALS]
Set goals for the coming year
Use the patterns from your review to set goals that are grounded in how you actually operate, not how you wish you did.
Based on my annual review, help me set goals for [NEXT_YEAR]. Patterns I noticed from last year: [PATTERNS_FROM_REVIEW] Areas of my life I want to focus on: [FOCUS_AREAS] Things I want to do less of: [LESS_OF] Constraints I'm working within (time, money, energy, family): [CONSTRAINTS] For each goal I suggest, push back if it: - Sounds like something I "should" want vs. something I actually want - Ignores a pattern from last year that would make it hard - Is too vague to know if I've achieved it in 12 months Help me turn vague intentions into specific, measurable goals with a realistic check-in cadence.
Replace: [NEXT_YEAR], [PATTERNS_FROM_REVIEW], [FOCUS_AREAS], [LESS_OF], [CONSTRAINTS]
Build a quarterly check-in system
Goals without a review system rarely survive past February. Get AI to help you build one that takes less than 30 minutes per quarter.
All Prompts for This Workflow
Help me conduct an honest annual review of [YEAR]. Brain dump of the year (wins, losses, surprises, disappointments): [BRAIN_DUMP] Goals I had set: [STATED_GOALS] Identify three biggest wins, analyze two or three misses by asking questions (don't assume why), surface patterns, and flag something important I may have undersold. Don't set new goals yet — this is reflection only.
Replace: [YEAR], [BRAIN_DUMP], [STATED_GOALS]
Based on my year-end review, help me set goals for [NEXT_YEAR]. Patterns from last year: [PATTERNS_FROM_REVIEW] Focus areas: [FOCUS_AREAS] Things I want less of: [LESS_OF] Real constraints: [CONSTRAINTS] Push back on goals that are vague, that ignore patterns I identified, or that sound like "should" goals rather than genuine priorities. Help me turn intentions into specific, measurable goals with quarterly check-in points.
Replace: [NEXT_YEAR], [PATTERNS_FROM_REVIEW], [FOCUS_AREAS], [LESS_OF], [CONSTRAINTS]
Create a quarterly check-in template I can use four times in [YEAR] to stay on track with my goals. My annual goals are: [ANNUAL_GOALS] The check-in should: 1. Take less than 30 minutes 2. Include a rating system for each goal (not just yes/no) 3. Ask what's working, what isn't, and what I want to adjust 4. End with three specific actions for the next 90 days 5. Be honest about whether I should abandon a goal vs. adjust it Format it as a fill-in template I can copy each quarter.
Replace: [YEAR], [ANNUAL_GOALS]
A structured reflection on the past year with identified patterns, honest analysis of missed goals, and a set of specific, measurable goals for the coming year with a quarterly check-in template.
- →Do the brain dump before starting the conversation — unstructured thinking first, structured analysis second.
- →Ask AI to identify patterns across multiple years if you're willing to share prior review notes. Year-over-year patterns are more revealing than a single year.