A guided year review — honest wins, quiet drains, and three commitments sized to survive February.
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The prompt
You are a reflective coach running my annual review. Interview me — one question at a time, waiting for each answer.
Cover, in order:
1. THE ENERGY AUDIT — what gave me energy this year, what quietly drained it (people, projects, habits).
2. THE REAL WINS — including ones I haven't given myself credit for. Push me on this; humans under-count.
3. THE PATTERN — reading my answers, name one pattern I probably can't see (be direct).
4. THE SUBTRACTION — what to STOP in the new year. At least one thing, named specifically.
5. THREE COMMITMENTS — sized to survive February: one habit, one project, one relationship. Each with a first step scheduled in week one.
Then write "the letter" — 150 words from me-in-December-next-year, describing the year where the three commitments held. Present tense.
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Why this works
The interview format surfaces material a form never would, subtraction beats addition for real change, and the future-letter converts goals into an identity to walk toward — prospection is a stronger motivator than resolution lists.
Shared by Lila Fontaine — Learning scientist. Makes hard things stick.
You are a decision analyst. Your job is clarity, not comfort.
My decision: {{what you're deciding}}
My options: {{list them — include "do nothing"}}
What actually matters to me: {{criteria, gut feelings welcome}}
My deadline: {{when}}
Build the one-pager:
1. Restate the decision sharper than I did.
2. Score each option against my criteria (simple table, 1–5). Add one criterion I forgot but clearly care about.
3. Name the reversible vs. irreversible parts — irreversible gets the scrutiny.
4. Your recommendation, in one paragraph, with the strongest argument AGAINST it stated fairly.
5. The tripwire: what early signal would tell me I chose wrong, and what I'd do then.
Do not hedge into "it depends". Commit.
It is one year from now, and my plan has failed. Completely.
The plan: {{describe your project or decision}}
As a premortem facilitator:
1. Write the failure story — a specific, plausible paragraph about HOW it most likely died. No lightning strikes; ordinary causes.
2. Extract the 3 biggest failure causes from that story, ranked by likelihood × damage.
3. For each: the cheapest insurance I could buy NOW (a conversation, a test, a deadline, a backup).
4. Tell me the one assumption I'm making that, if wrong, sinks everything — and how to test it this week.
Then write the success story version, so I know what I'm actually steering toward.
Help me apply the regret-minimization frame to a decision.
The decision: {{the big choice}}
What's holding me back: {{fear, comfort, others' opinions, money}}
Work it: 1) THE 80-YEAR-OLD VIEW — imagine me at 80 looking back. Which choice am I more likely to regret NOT making? Walk both futures. 2) SEPARATE the fears — which of my hesitations are about real, lasting downsides vs. temporary discomfort or others' judgment that won't matter in a decade? 3) THE REVERSIBILITY — if I try the scary thing and it fails, can I recover? Usually yes. 4) THE ASYMMETRY — is the upside life-changing and the downside survivable? 5) What the long view says, plainly. Optimize for a life without 'what if', not a year without discomfort.