kepano/40-questions

About

This repo maintains revisons and translations to the list of 40 questions I ask myself each year and each decade.

See related blog posts:

• 40 questions to ask yourself every year (October 2016)
• 40 questions to ask yourself every decade (January 2022)

Translations

If you'd like to help translate the questions, you can submit your translation via pull request. Place the translated files into a folder named using the ISO 639-1 two letter language code. See the /translations folder.

40 questions to ask yourself each year

One of my rituals at the end of each year is asking myself these forty questions. It usually takes me about a week to work my way through all of them. I find it to be one of the most valuable exercises to reflect on what happened, good and bad, and how I hope the year ahead will shape up.

What is more interesting than each individual answer are the trends that emerge after years of answering the same questions. I’ve shared this list with my family and closest friends, and always enjoy discussing answers as we reflect on the year.

Feel free to add or remove questions, and share your edits with me. This is first and foremost a personal exercise, so make it a tradition you can enjoy for years to come.

40 questions to ask yourself each decade

Some time ago I had answered Proust's famous questionnaire, and thought I would try answering it again. While the yearly questions help me reflect on what happened, Proust's questions are more about personal philosophies and traits, and thus change less frequently over time.

Going through my answers to the Proust questionnaire, I was inspired to work on a new questionnaire that I could use for the next few decades. I tried create a set of questions that I would enjoy reflecting on in ten years. This list combines questions from Proust's questionnaire, and others I've been collecting ad hoc.

It will be ten years before I can tell you whether this worked well or not, but join me on this journey if you'd like! Again, consider editing this list with questions you would like to know your own answers to in ten years.